People Without Shelter: A Story of a Berlin Homeless Person
This is the story of Jessie, a homeless man in Berlin from Mozambique, who lived under a bridge and created art after his divorce. His living space was eventually lost due to urban redevelopment, highlighting the struggles of those living on the fringes of society.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 30, 2026 at 10:24
- 🔍 Collected: April 30, 2026 at 10:31 (6 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 30, 2026 at 19:50 (9h 19m after Collected)
Central News Agency Correspondent Lin Shang-ying in Berlin
2026/4/30 09:24
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In German, a homeless person is called Obdachloser, which literally translates to "person without shelter." During the day, they can often be seen pushing supermarket shopping carts around the streets of Berlin; on cold nights, they sometimes sleep in train stations or subway cars. The S-Bahn ring line runs 24 hours a day, and if station staff don't disturb them, they can sleep soundly until morning.
The news of renovating public spaces and reducing homeless activity reminded me of an interview several years ago. At that time, an artist named Chen Yi, from Taipei, who was in residence in Berlin, was researching urban spaces and was curious about the homeless people seen everywhere in the city center, so he came to ask me for my thoughts.
I recalled an incident at Berlin's famous sunset spot – the Modersohnbrücke, which spans multiple railway corridors. After returning home, what kept replaying in my mind was not the yellow glow of the passing trains illuminated by the afterglow, but a tree on the bridge pier wearing a red vest.
"There are traces of human life under the bridge," I told him, suggesting we might explore it together. We proceeded from a hidden narrow path at the bridgehead towards the pier, a muddy strip less than two meters wide, with the bridge structure on one side and a parking lot fence on the other, ending at a railway fence.
Besides the red vest, many artificial objects hung on the tree in the narrow path, such as an inverted umbrella (which looked like it could collect rainwater); glass cups strung together with string (like wind chimes); and an open scout chair, dark and charred, like dried or even burned branches.
"I'm drying mushrooms I picked in the forest," said the owner of the voice. He lit leaves, saying he would smoke the food in the way of his hometown. The sunlight was cut into beams in the curling smoke, mixed with a touch of divinity and fantastical beauty.
Jessie, the owner of the voice, was from East Africa. More than 10 years ago, he met his German wife in Mozambique and later came to Berlin, originally living with his wife and daughter in an apartment on the other side of the city. Later, the two divorced due to differing views on their child's education. Leaving his original home, he became a "person without shelter," wandering the streets daily.
The Modersohnbrücke is near East Berlin's liveliest food district, with dense restaurants and bars, and many empty beer bottles on the streets. He pushed a cart, collecting empty bottles to recycle at the supermarket for some change to buy food.
More often, he also picked up discarded items on the street as spiritual sustenance. In the open yet hidden space under the bridge, many works he created from scavenged items could be seen. Jessie said he just collected things to decorate his living space, and some arrangements made life feel warmer and more harmonious.
Among them, his favorite was a telescope without lenses. "At night, I often look at the starry sky from my bed," Jessie said, adding that one day he would put lenses in that telescope.
I asked Jessie why he chose to live outside. In fact, Berlin has a well-developed social assistance system for "people without shelter." Besides large-scale charitable organizations providing free meals daily in the city center, under current German government regulations, single unemployed individuals can receive at least 560 euros (about NT$20,000) per month in Bürgergeld (citizen's basic income), and can also apply for additional rent and heating subsidies, totaling over a thousand euros per month, which is sufficient to meet basic living needs.
Upon hearing this question, Jessie merely shrugged, saying he didn't have a phone and didn't quite understand the application procedures. "There's nothing wrong with not living in a house." Besides occasionally enduring severe cold, the only drawback was that this unstable lifestyle made it difficult for him to establish long-term stable relationships with others.
As he spoke, he led us to a corner of the bridge pier. There was a mattress, and photos of his wife and daughter were pasted on the bridge surface, along with pictures of his family and hometown in Mozambique.
After the two interviews, Jessie and I agreed that I would bring him beer again; Chen Yi digitally scanned Jessie's living space and created a 3D video artwork called "Lichen," inviting Jessie to view the work, themed around his living space, at the art exhibition's opening.
Later, whenever I passed the Modersohnbrücke, I would lean down to see if Jessie was there, but I always missed him. Later, I heard that someone saw Jessie pausing in front of the glass window of the exhibition space on opening day, but he didn't go inside and disappeared in a flash.
I held onto this story, thinking I would write it down someday. While preparing this month's column, I went to the Modersohnbrücke again, only to find that his living place no longer showed signs of life, and the vest on the tree and the photos on the bridge pier, like Jessie, had disappeared from this city.
The fence that once separated the parking lot from the bridge had been removed, and a brand-new supermarket had been built on the parking lot, serving residents of the newly completed buildings nearby.
Is Jessie doing well now? In Berlin, which has undergone years of gentrification and continuous urban regeneration and renovation, is there still a place for "people without shelter" like Jessie? When I miss him, I look at the "disappeared space" preserved in the artist's work and ponder this question. (Editor: Tang Pei-chun) 1150430
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2026/4/30 09:24
Recommended Reading
In German, a homeless person is called Obdachloser, which literally translates to "person without shelter." During the day, they can often be seen pushing supermarket shopping carts around the streets of Berlin; on cold nights, they sometimes sleep in train stations or subway cars. The S-Bahn ring line runs 24 hours a day, and if station staff don't disturb them, they can sleep soundly until morning.
The news of renovating public spaces and reducing homeless activity reminded me of an interview several years ago. At that time, an artist named Chen Yi, from Taipei, who was in residence in Berlin, was researching urban spaces and was curious about the homeless people seen everywhere in the city center, so he came to ask me for my thoughts.
I recalled an incident at Berlin's famous sunset spot – the Modersohnbrücke, which spans multiple railway corridors. After returning home, what kept replaying in my mind was not the yellow glow of the passing trains illuminated by the afterglow, but a tree on the bridge pier wearing a red vest.
"There are traces of human life under the bridge," I told him, suggesting we might explore it together. We proceeded from a hidden narrow path at the bridgehead towards the pier, a muddy strip less than two meters wide, with the bridge structure on one side and a parking lot fence on the other, ending at a railway fence.
Besides the red vest, many artificial objects hung on the tree in the narrow path, such as an inverted umbrella (which looked like it could collect rainwater); glass cups strung together with string (like wind chimes); and an open scout chair, dark and charred, like dried or even burned branches.
"I'm drying mushrooms I picked in the forest," said the owner of the voice. He lit leaves, saying he would smoke the food in the way of his hometown. The sunlight was cut into beams in the curling smoke, mixed with a touch of divinity and fantastical beauty.
Jessie, the owner of the voice, was from East Africa. More than 10 years ago, he met his German wife in Mozambique and later came to Berlin, originally living with his wife and daughter in an apartment on the other side of the city. Later, the two divorced due to differing views on their child's education. Leaving his original home, he became a "person without shelter," wandering the streets daily.
The Modersohnbrücke is near East Berlin's liveliest food district, with dense restaurants and bars, and many empty beer bottles on the streets. He pushed a cart, collecting empty bottles to recycle at the supermarket for some change to buy food.
More often, he also picked up discarded items on the street as spiritual sustenance. In the open yet hidden space under the bridge, many works he created from scavenged items could be seen. Jessie said he just collected things to decorate his living space, and some arrangements made life feel warmer and more harmonious.
Among them, his favorite was a telescope without lenses. "At night, I often look at the starry sky from my bed," Jessie said, adding that one day he would put lenses in that telescope.
I asked Jessie why he chose to live outside. In fact, Berlin has a well-developed social assistance system for "people without shelter." Besides large-scale charitable organizations providing free meals daily in the city center, under current German government regulations, single unemployed individuals can receive at least 560 euros (about NT$20,000) per month in Bürgergeld (citizen's basic income), and can also apply for additional rent and heating subsidies, totaling over a thousand euros per month, which is sufficient to meet basic living needs.
Upon hearing this question, Jessie merely shrugged, saying he didn't have a phone and didn't quite understand the application procedures. "There's nothing wrong with not living in a house." Besides occasionally enduring severe cold, the only drawback was that this unstable lifestyle made it difficult for him to establish long-term stable relationships with others.
As he spoke, he led us to a corner of the bridge pier. There was a mattress, and photos of his wife and daughter were pasted on the bridge surface, along with pictures of his family and hometown in Mozambique.
After the two interviews, Jessie and I agreed that I would bring him beer again; Chen Yi digitally scanned Jessie's living space and created a 3D video artwork called "Lichen," inviting Jessie to view the work, themed around his living space, at the art exhibition's opening.
Later, whenever I passed the Modersohnbrücke, I would lean down to see if Jessie was there, but I always missed him. Later, I heard that someone saw Jessie pausing in front of the glass window of the exhibition space on opening day, but he didn't go inside and disappeared in a flash.
I held onto this story, thinking I would write it down someday. While preparing this month's column, I went to the Modersohnbrücke again, only to find that his living place no longer showed signs of life, and the vest on the tree and the photos on the bridge pier, like Jessie, had disappeared from this city.
The fence that once separated the parking lot from the bridge had been removed, and a brand-new supermarket had been built on the parking lot, serving residents of the newly completed buildings nearby.
Is Jessie doing well now? In Berlin, which has undergone years of gentrification and continuous urban regeneration and renovation, is there still a place for "people without shelter" like Jessie? When I miss him, I look at the "disappeared space" preserved in the artist's work and ponder this question. (Editor: Tang Pei-chun) 1150430
Stand with the facts, every sponsorship you provide is a force for protecting press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency 'First-hand News' APP to stay updated with the latest news.
The text, images, and audio-visual content on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.