The forced eviction of the “Bateau Ivre” on Heinrichplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg causes unrest. An online petition has been collecting signatures for the preservation of the traditional restaurant, which has existed on Oranienstrasse since 1997, for the past week.

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According to operator Atalay Aktaş, the bailiff announced his presence on June 8th. He got the notice in July 2021 because two months’ rent was not paid during the lockdown. The eviction title was then pronounced in autumn 2021. However, after a dispute with the landlord in February 2022, he stopped paying rent.

According to the petition from Aktaş, the “preservation of the Bateau Ivre for the neighborhood” is demanded. “This includes the continuation of the rental agreement until the end of the contract, a fair fee with payment of the usual discount to the owner in the event of a change of ownership, and the taking on of our employees.” The Bateau Ivre should be preserved as an institution.

According to a report by RBB on Friday, the landlord wants to keep the restaurant “without rent increases”, but from another operator. If the current operator pays the arrears of rent by June 3 and pays the rest of the year’s rent in advance, there will be no eviction. The sum of 72,000 euros is outstanding, the RBB quoted from a letter from the landlord’s lawyer.

“The Bateau Ivre project should definitely be continued, by a restaurateur who is already known in the neighborhood, who rents under the same rental contract conditions (i.e. no rent increase) and who has undertaken to continue this gastronomic project in the interest of the neighborhood culture,” says in the report further from the attorney’s letter. A request from the daily mirror initially remained unanswered.

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Café operator Atalay Aktaş spoke in the RBB of a “little Kreuzberg miracle”, one hopes that an agreement will be reached.

The district council had campaigned last week in the form of a rescue request for the Bateau Ivre. The district office is requested to reach an agreement with the owner about an extension of the lease.