Waking Up on the Field: Darmstadt 98's Stadium Sleepover for Homelessness Awareness

2023-10-12 05:01:00

Darmstadt 98 invited people to spend the night in the stadium to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness. The night shows the difficulties and fate of the people on the street – but also the special fan scene of the Lilies.

By Ron Ulrich

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Video 03:02 min. | 10/07/23, 7:30 p.m. |hessenschau

Slumber party at Bölle for a good cause

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Officials from Darmstadt 98 woke up on Saturday morning in front of the players’ tunnel at the Lilien Stadium. But before the first headlines are made, it should be added: The overnight stay at the Böllenfalltor is not because of someone being kicked out at home or because of the extended celebration of the home victory, but rather serves a good cause.

In addition to Vice President Markus Pfitzner and Managing Director Michael Weilguny, almost 40 others are sleeping outside at the Böllenfalltor to draw attention to the issue of homelessness with the “open-air overnight stay”. The donations and also the payments for sleeping utensils go entirely to charitable institutions and those in need, but beyond the financial help, the focus is particularly on the literal sensitivity: “We take the topic seriously, we want to feel what a night outside feels like,” says Pfitzner during the introductory round in the evening. Florian Holzbrecher, Head of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) at Lilien and one of the organizers, says: “We want to get a thought process started. We also want people to learn who they can turn to for help.”

“Without my dog I would have been raped”

Not just drawing attention to the problem, but experiencing it firsthand (at least for one night): That’s the lilies’ unorthodox approach. There has never been a collective overnight stay in the stadium at temperatures below ten degrees in German football. “You sleep under bridges or in the train station mission,” fans in German stadiums have been shouting at their opponents since the 1980s, and the St. Pauli or Schalke 04 teams have even ironically adopted the “We” form. On this day it becomes clear again that everyday life on the street is no fun.

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Overnight stay in the Darmstadt stadium.

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1/9 Lilien Vice President Markus Pfitzner on the podium. Image © hessenschau.de

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“I ask you to help people, even if it’s just with a roll,” says the former homeless Moni in the VIP room of the stadium, where the topic will be introduced with discussions and lectures at the beginning of the evening. Without her dog, Moni reports, she would have been raped several times. “They almost kicked me.” This in particular is a learning effect of the evening: homeless people are not only affected by the cold and homelessness, they also have to defend themselves and the few possessions they have and organize their everyday lives. “That’s sometimes more than an eight-hour day,” explains a scientist from Frankfurt.

Over 400,000 homeless people

The numbers mentioned on the microphone alone make you sit up and take notice: there are 45,000 homeless people across the country, and the number of homeless people is estimated at around 417,000. There are several accommodations in Darmstadt, including ones specifically for women and families. Even pregnant women or parents with small children are looking for shelter. It is suffering and poverty that appears omnipresent in the streets, especially in the post-Corona times and the housing crisis, but at the same time is pushed out of consciousness.

Of course, a single overnight stay seems like a mere simulation, like a short sightseeing of poverty, some might object. But on the other hand, the oft-used Indian saying has lost none of its justification in this context: “Preserve me from judging a person until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.” Or an evening like he was freezing.

The search for the windless corner

On the way to Darmstadt, the weather report on the radio predicted five degrees overnight, and in the stadium without any corners blocked off, the wind was already blowing cold in the evening. So you drag sleeping mats, thick sweaters and thermos flasks across the stands of the stadium and rely on the tricks of some “experienced” fans. Horst Wittersheim is one of them, a 69-year-old man with a blue jacket unerringly looks for a corner in front of you Lodge, which seems fairly sheltered from the wind. Otherwise he would be sitting over on Nord, he says. As a boy in the 1960s, he often spent the night in the open air at the region’s fishing ponds. The campaign reminds him a bit of his own childhood, even if “we can’t imagine how the homeless are doing 365 days a year.”

Audio contribution

Audio

01:30 Min.
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10.10.23

|Ron Ulrich

Horst: A life with lilies

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Wittersheim wraps himself in his sleeping bag, his hat with the lily pins still on his head. He was born in Darmstadt and has always been a fan of the 98s. He used to sell the stadium booklets to get in here or wait for the gates to open in the second half. “We didn’t have any money.” He later worked as a gas and water fitter, tram driver and in the bus workshop. After his retirement a few years ago, he bought some (travel and overnight) equipment for the Way of St. James, but Corona thwarted the plan. “As I read about the campaign today, I said: That’s cool, join in. I can also make my stuff available.” And so “Horst”, as he actually imagined, sleeps in the stadium, which he previously didn’t have the money to enter. Now he not only donates 98 euros, but also his clothes to those in need. The Bölle: a stadium with a life curve.

From prison to the street

A few meters further, behind another ledge, Richard spreads out his duffel bag; he also has a special history connecting him to the stadium and the city. He spent four winters on the streets of his hometown after being evicted from his apartment in Dortmund without notice. “I was in prison, paid off two fines and came onto the streets for the first time. I knew that I only did street work in Darmstadt. Whenever I had nothing, I always had the feeling that there was an angel around the corner comes, for example, gives me a deposit.” Since last summer, Richard has had an apartment, an ID card and even a cell phone – which he complains about. “I used to be more independent. I had an outlaw life. But then little by little I turned away from the scene.” Richard is still playing cards with others after 1 a.m. His story sounds like a happy ending, but sometimes he speaks almost enthusiastically about his non-conformist, former life.

Audio contribution

Audio

02:09 Min.
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10.10.23

|Ron Ulrich

Former homeless person: An angel always came to Darmstadt

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You can hear his voice even longer in the night. Overall, there are always noises echoing in the stands, so you can’t really fall into a deep sleep – but that’s exactly similar to the reports from the homeless, who always have to fear for their last belongings. The floor in the stadium corridors naturally feels uncomfortable on a thin sleeping mat, but further up at least the moisture doesn’t rise from the ground. At least: It won’t be as cold as feared, the temperatures at night are even good for October. It only gets wet at six in the morning, not from the rain, but from the lawn sprinkler. By then you know that you are waking up in a football stadium. The first ones head off to breakfast in the stands.

Two hours of sleep and then to Augsburg

Daniel and Tanja Keil and Nina Bischoff only slept two hours during their first coffee. But while everyone else and you are already looking forward to going to bed at home, the three of them are moving straight on. In the fan bus to the game in Augsburg, almost 330 kilometers away. “We also go to training once a week, take the bus to every game and visit former players. We’re there everywhere,” they say. In the evening at 10 p.m. they want to be back in Darmstadt and go partying. And on the bus or in the clubs they can probably not only talk about the away win, but also what an autumn night without shelter feels like. And make others aware. The night at Bölle was worth it for that alone.

Audio contribution

Audio

00:36 Min.
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10.10.23