I am Kerstin Wolter, Co-Chair of die Linke in Berlin and direct candidate in Constituency 3 in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. I love Berlin and especially my district – I have called it home for 20 years. But sadly it is under threat: rents in our neigh- bourhood are skyrocketing, community organisations are having their funding cut, and our streets, parks and play- grounds are littered with garbage. Friedrichshain doesn’t even have a public swimming pool anymore. But it doesn’t have to be this way – this is not a law of nature. It is the result of the politics of the CDU and Mayor Kai Wegner, who governs only for a wealthy few.
I am a geographer – and I am committed to ensuring that the places that sustain our life together are not gutted by austerity: family, youth, women’s and girls’ centres. They are spaces for support, exchange and community – and that is precisely why they must not fall victim to the cuts. I am fighting to make sure Friedrichshain finally gets a place to swim and bathe again. And I want our neighbourhood to become cleaner – the garbage is a nuisance, because these are our streets, parks and playgrounds. Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg should remain a place of solidarity and become affordable again, so that it can be a home for all of us. That is why I am running.