Regenbogenfabrik Berlin is a children’s, culture and neighborhood center in the middle of Berlin. We have a wide range of offers for Berliners and guests from all over the world. Have a look: here on our website or live at Regenbogenfabrik, Lausitzer Straße 21a, 10999 Berlin.
The rainbow factory is a children’s, culture and neighborhood center in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Occupied in 1981, we still see ourselves as part of the housing and tenant movement and are committed to building and maintaining self-governing, collective and emancipatory structures from below.
As a collective, we work without bosses and make decisions together and in a grassroots-democratic manner according to the consensus principle. Solidarity and cooperation form the basis of our joint work. For the rainbow factory, every job is of equal value, which is why every job is paid the same.
Volunteers are also integrated into the decision-making structures. Each of us bears responsibility for the entire organization. We reject pressure to perform and thoughts of competition. In addition, we are committed to the greatest possible transparency of operational processes and decisions, both within the collective and in relation to the outside world.
About the factory
The Rainbow Factory was declared a monument in 1998. We learned that from a dry letter from the Berlin administration and were surprised. We were perhaps frightened because in the letter the authority imposed on us that changes in or on the building must be discussed and coordinated with the responsible monument protection authority with immediate effect. It wasn’t until 2004 that we discovered that we could also use it to tell exciting stories.
Monuments are many things: stores of knowledge, storytellers, eye-catchers, places to live or study. People live or work in them, crafts are learned, applied and passed on from them. This has been celebrated in Europe for several years on Open Monument Day. We go along with it and year after year we get a new opportunity to tell our story from a new perspective.
The Rainbow Factory is not spectacular architecture. But it is part of an ensemble, it tells the story of the Kreuzberg mixture of living and working in a very small space. We are glad that we can continue this story today.
No Border No Nation
On Saturday17th December from 5pm until 10pm, there will be soli drinks, Glühwein, waffles and music in the Regenbogen Café, Lausitzer Straße 22. All profits from the event No Border No Nation will go to raise money for the costs of refugees fighting for the right to stay.
