Hamburg reacts to the refugee situation and creates space in the former Postbank headquarters
This house, formerly used by the Post Bank, has been converted for the use of refugees
Source: Image Alliance / dpa
Since the beginning of April, up to 900 people will move into the City Nord office space, and a stunning building is being renovated for this. Mayor Tschentscher says the city has now reached its limits.
DrThe municipal company Fördern & Wohnen is converting the vacant building of the former Postbank headquarters in northern Hamburg into accommodation for refugees. Thus, Hamburg is creating additional capacities for those seeking protection from Ukraine on six floors, social authorities announced Thursday.
It will start gradually occupying accommodation for 900 people in early April. If required, the accommodations can be expanded to accommodate up to 1,560 people. She said that the former offices are currently being converted into rooms and common areas, additional sanitary facilities are being built using containers, and the former canteen will be used to serve food by a catering company. The lease is for three years.
Recently, the city has increasingly bought up former office buildings to make space for refugees or other people in need, such as an empty hotel in Hamburg-Schnelsen and one of the Mündsberg towers.
But the city still lags behind in meeting the requirements, as Hamburg Mayor Peter Schentscher (SPD) recently explained. In addition to money, federal states and municipalities also need sufficient accommodations to receive refugees. “We have to see that in big cities, where space is scarce, it’s not just about money, but at some point we also need space or real estate to accommodate people,” the SDP politician said on ntv programme. beisenherz”. When asked how many people Hamburg can still accommodate, “We are also at the limit,” said Cincher.
Hamburg has received more than 30,000 refugees from Ukraine alone. Tschentscher said that even if some of them stay with friends or relatives, not only the city of Hamburg will have to pay so much to take care of people. “I also expect the federal government to see how much higher the costs are for states and local authorities.”
The municipalities demand a long-term strategy for the reception of refugees in Germany from the federal and state governments. A federal government summit with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on refugee costs is scheduled for May 10.
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