Kulturraum Berlin gGmbH (KRB) is working intensively on a sustainable solution to preserve the studio building at Hobrechtstraße 31. The Hobrechtstraße studio building, an integral part of Berlin’s Workspace Programme since 1999 and a creative hub for 27 professional visual artists, had until recently been under threat due to expiring leases. KRB’s commitment to the sustainable preservation of spatial infrastructure for artistic work in Berlin is now showing renewed success, despite critical budget cuts to the Workspace Programme. This gives the acutely threatened studio site renewed cause for hope.
After it became apparent that the KRB, as the main tenant of the studio building, would be unable to renew the lease expiring on 31 May 2025, the tireless commitment of the staff has, for the first time, given cause for relief: The productive collaboration with the owners, who wish to continue enabling sustainable cultural use of the site, as well as the constructive dialogue with the local artists, give cause for optimism that a viable solution has been found.
Ever since the budget freeze was lifted in mid-December 2024, the KRB has been working to develop a robust interim solution. Financial security has now also been secured for this purpose; whilst this does not yet promise a long-term guarantee for the studio building, it does give those involved sufficient time to develop a long-term vision for the site.
The fact that this solution is now within reach is a significant success for the KRB, as throughout 2024, despite successful negotiations with the owners, there was no scope for action to implement a contract extension. Months of delays in the granting of commitment appropriations – which the KRB needs to enter into long-term leases and which it must apply for from the Senate Department for Social Cohesion, which in turn must apply to the Finance Administration – made a contract extension impossible. By the end of 2024, KRB’s core business – the leasing, refurbishment and allocation of artistic production spaces – had been hit by severe budget cuts.
The fact that a positive way forward is now in sight is therefore not only a cause for celebration, but also proof of the staff’s tireless commitment, particularly in these difficult times. Following the last-minute rescue of the live-work studio on Manteuffelstraße just before Christmas 2024, the KRB has once again demonstrated that securing artistic workspaces remains its top priority, even under the current austerity measures.
Dirk Förster, Managing Director of the KRB:
“We are confident that we have found a solution that gives us and the artists at Hobrechtstr. 31 sufficient time to work together to develop a long-term vision for this important studio location. Our thanks go to the artists who have campaigned to preserve their building, and equally to the owners, for whom the cultural use of their property is a matter of particular concern. Now we must overcome the final hurdles so that we can officially announce this plan.”