Sauna sauna sauna

Today we will have our "sauna-party" here in Kreuzberg at a former, now regularized, "squat" on Cuvrystrasse. The organizers of the squat had the right-of-mind to establish a commons room on the top "Dach" (=attic) floor where grill parties, birthday parties are held by the various homesteaders of the building complex. They had the foresight of shared amenities that one does not see easily in cities like NewYork or Paris. One shared amenity is a sauna room, running on coins, with attached showers. This sauna party has become a tradition of sorts and dates back to more than a decade and half. Tonight some of its history was revealed to be at dinner party by Ro.M. (a cutie and an artist I have known since 2002 here in Berlin)- it turns out he dated the roommate of on of the Sauna's intiators. The sauna parties are male-only and they are not sex-parties (though i suspect that they use to be). It turns out that Ro.M. use to live at the Tuntenhaus (=dragqueen house) back in the 80s when it was on Bulowstrasse in Schoeneberg [today the Tuntenhaus is located on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauerberg]. Its inhabitants, then and now, are gay men and both began and emerged as well known squats in the "Besetzbewegung"(=occupied movement) of the post68 era in western germany- perhaps with its heyday in the late 70s and mid 80s when redevelopement plans were strife and old structures left to rot. it is certain that many squaters unluckily chose certain buildings that would stand no chance against the bulldozers ball whilst others faired better when an urban renewal project was abandoned and the contentious properties were ignored or best yet legalization with its illegal residents was resolved- sometimes amicably with a group purchase of absurdly unrelistically (low) prices. I fear, with reasoned clarity, that these days have gone into history and that the wheel must be reinvented and such events will not happen like this again. If one knows where to look and how to look- something as simple as Googleearth can reveal the hidden treasures of communal living spaces that have been established through homesteading here in Berlin. As a proponent of communal living (though communes have developed a tainted reputation in the popular and mainstream media) i am hopeful that i can someday be involved in a Hausprojekt (=house project), and I'll vote and lobby for a sauna!