Rearranging the details, the camp guard is now taking a low profile position.
In the heart of Leinfelden-Echterdingen, a city in southwest Germany, a new refugee settlement has emerged. The Echterdinger Renault site, once an industrial hub, now hosts a container village, providing temporary homes for individuals displaced from crisis regions, including Ukraine.
The city has made a two-story building of living containers, erected in 2023, a part of this settlement. This modern complex, located in the Schelmenäcker neighborhood, follows a set of rules and a house order for the residents' comfort and safety. Visitors must be announced, and there's a ban on permanent overnight guests and smoking in the buildings.
The residents are allowed to bring their personal furniture to make their containers feel more like home. This settlement has a history of providing refuge, having housed refugees in the 1980s and 1990s, and again after 2015.
One such resident is Celal Kara, a 24-year-old Kurd from Turkey. Fluent in German, Celal is currently attending vocational school in Germany with the aim of becoming a construction craftsman. He came to Germany two and a half years ago, citing religious tolerance as a reason.
Celal shares a container with a roommate from Turkey, and they get along well. The city has moved residents to the Schelmenäcker neighborhood between April and July.
To help resolve conflicts and promote peaceful coexistence, a scheduled cleaning week, or kehrwoche, has been introduced. During this week, a different room is cleaned each week, ensuring that communal areas are kept clean and tidy.
Volunteer helpers offer a consultation hour and a craft group for children in the new accommodations. The city has also purchased two former office towers at the Echterdinger Dieselstraße to convert into a large refugee accommodation facility.
Despite the efforts to maintain order, conflicts still exist among the residents, with cleaning being a common source of disputes. However, Jolin Oswald, the caretaker of the container accommodations, enjoys the variety her job brings. She completed her apprenticeship with the city and takes pride in her role.
The city is saving money each month by reducing refugee accommodations due to decreased asylum seeker numbers. Previously, 120 people had been living on the Leinfelden Straße area, but the city has decided not to renew the contract for the rental containers due to cost savings and a decrease in the number of refugees.
Currently, there is room for 360 people at Max-Lang-Straße and Kohlhammerstraße, with 186 currently living there. The container accommodations at the Echterdinger Renault site are providing a safe and modern living environment for those in need, offering a glimmer of hope amidst the challenging circumstances.
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