Drinking rooms

More and more people are spending time outside on the streets during the day for a variety of reasons - even those who have their own home. Public squares and parks then serve as meeting places for them to spend the day together. As a result, residents and tradespeople often feel harassed by "scene meet-ups" in such busy inner-city squares.

The drinking rooms offered by Kieler Anker with the support of the City of Kiel - at Kieler Schaßstraße 4 and Kaiserstraße 57 - offer an alternative. People who would otherwise spend time in public places can stay there every working day in protected spaces and also consume low-proof alcohol that they have brought with them. Non-alcoholic drinks are available at cost price. Pets are welcome. The area is very popular with the scene.

When designing the so-called drinking rooms, HEMPELS (one of our partners, from whose work the Kieler Anker emerged) started from the assumption that a facility will only be used sustainably by its target group if those affected - many with heavy alcohol consumption and sometimes corresponding behavior - also find acceptance for their situation there. The drinking room is therefore designed to be low-threshold. A visit does not necessarily mean that you have to accept socio-educational offers at the same time. The focus is on social interaction and our guests are supported in getting involved in their drinking rooms.

Experience to date has shown that regulatory and educational measures alone cannot solve the problems that arise. In the past, such measures usually only led to a local relocation of the "scene meeting places". A sustainable approach to this problem area is not possible due to a lack of target group-oriented services in close proximity to the meeting places.

The club café "Zum Sofa" at Kieler Schaßstraße 4 is used as a drinking area in Kiel-Mitte. The drinking room in Kiel-Gaarden is a former corner pub at Kaiserstraße 57. In Schaßstraße, two employees take care of the running of the drinking room, in Gaarden there are two employees and two volunteers. The pub offers a place to stay and, on request, social counseling and money management.

The consumption of low-proof alcohol is accepted and only unconditional rules of conduct are specified. People from our community are employed and involved in the facilities. The facilities also serve as distribution points for the HEMPELS street magazine to its sellers and thus, together with HEMPELS, also offer access to other employment opportunities in the street magazine.