© dpa
With the onset of the colder season, hundreds of emergency overnight shelters are available in Berlin.
The Senate Department for Social Affairs told the German Press Agency that from 1 October there will be 735 places in the cold aid programme, with more to be added from November, bringing the total to 1,010 until the end of March.
There are 460 year-round emergency overnight places, and from October there will be a further 255 places at the Kältehilfe, which will be expanded to 487 for the winter. In addition, there will initially be 20 places in cold aid night cafés, with 63 in winter. From April, the number of places will be slightly lower, at 920. Five further properties are currently being examined, it was said. It is possible that more than 300 places will be added. ‘It is becoming more and more difficult to find suitable properties for the cold weather aid,’ said Social Affairs Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD). She called on property owners to provide support. "Only together can we ensure that no one in our city has to spend the night in the cold."
Night cafés are mainly offered by church communities or socially committed organisations. In contrast to emergency overnight stays, which are usually run professionally by emergency housing aid organisations, night cafés are rooms that have been converted into emergency sleeping facilities at short notice and are not necessarily open seven days a week. Kältehilfe was set up in 1989 by church communities, welfare organisations and the Senate Department for Social Affairs. The services can be used anonymously. At the start of the season on 1 October 2023, there were 677 places available.