The Atelierhaus-Genossenschaft-Berlin (AHGB eG) opened on September 14th, 2018, the first studio house of the city, financed by artists themselves. With their involvement in the cooperative, the artists involved make it clear how important it is for them to preserve the location factor of culture in Berlin. Because the cooperative principle with its sustainable strategy not only secures its own workplace and exhibition space, but also preserves the newly-created studio location in Charlottenburg-Nord for future generations of Berlin artists.
Image above: AHGB Haus 1, View Yard, Photo: Nathalie Grenzhaeuser
Artistic work is a serious trade that requires secure and affordable work spaces in the long term. The rising rents for living and working space in Berlin – also in commercial areas, rental prices are developing dramatically – affect the artists of the city in two ways. The latest survey by the Institute for Strategy Development (IFSE) shows that only 10% of the artists in Berlin can benefit from the output of their artistic work. Due to the precarious life situation, they are usually not able to bear rising rental costs and literally lose their jobs. According to the studio representative of the city of Berlin, Martin Schwegmann, the number of affordable studios in the city is reduced by about 350 per year, with the Senate planned countermeasures regrettably far too slow effect.
To counter the atelier in Berlin by own initiative, the Atelierhaus-Genossenschaft-Berlin eG was founded in 2015 as an initiative of the Kunstverein Tiergarten e.V. in Berlin-Moabit by architect Christian Hamm and Ulf Heitmann, a board member of Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft Bremer Höhe eG. Meanwhile, almost 50 artists are members of the cooperative.
Around 30 artists have found the means and the courage to purchase the building in Stieffring 7 from a private owner in January 2017. Located outside the center of Berlin in the north of Charlottenburg, in a commercial park near Tegel Airport, the building, which was built in the 1960s, has divisible work spaces on three floors and a freight elevator. For the smallest unit of 20 square meters of studio space, a deposit of 8,000 euros was necessary. In addition, there is a long-term stable, monthly gross heating rent of 8 euros per square meter. Almost two thirds of the acquisition costs are financed by a bank in Berlin, which the board of directors of the cooperative could win as a partner for the project. Purchase and expansion of the studio house have so far been done without public funding or political support.
Studios of Ursula Antesberger, Arte popular apatrida & lila rose kole, Gleb Bas, Wolfram Beyer, Erdmute Blach, Fides Becker, Katrin Bremermann, Juliane Duda, Barbara Duisberg, Angelika Dierkes, Kiki Gebauer, Nathalie Giraud, Nathalie Grenzhaeuser, Katrin Hammer, Katrin Hosterbach, Astrid Köppe, Ulla Matussek, Alexander Menegotto, Sumiyo Nagai, Cornelia Renz, Karl Siegel, Ruźa Spak, Anja Spitzer, USUS Handmade, Zora Volantes, Barbara Wille, Ommo Wille, Walter Yu, Macarena Zúñiga Infante
WHERE?
Atelierhaus Genossenschaft Berlin (AHGB eG)
AHGB Haus 1, Stieffring 7
13627 Berlin-Charlottenburg
 opened on 14.09.2018, the first studio house of the city, financed by artists themselves.){kind=link}