After years of searching for space and persuading local politicians and administrators, the city of Jena offers sociocultural actors the opportunity to lease an area of the former slaughterhouse in September 2016. At the first viewing appointment, Crossroads Jena e.V., Freie Bühne Jena e.V. and FreiRaum-Jena e.V. expressed a strong interest in using the site. Together, we develop a concept that can convince the city council in April 2017.
Since then, the Kulturschlachthof alliance has brought together expertise from urban youth culture, theater and sustainable living and business. We offer potential for a cross-thematic and cross-generational cultural offering at a central location. Thanks to a building lease, we have secured the location for 99 years for socio-cultural use. Our challenge: renovating and redesigning a run-down site on a voluntary basis.
Making it usable is a mammoth task. When we took over the old abattoir in 2018, the building was missing all its windows and doors and there were no electricity, water, sewage, gas or media connections anywhere on the site. The rooms were initially unusable for our purposes. In the meantime, 7 years have passed. We have already achieved some milestones, but we are still in the middle of the renovation. However, that doesn't stop us from constantly putting on new events and revitalizing the place.
The entire project is only possible thanks to countless voluntary efforts and thanks to numerous public and private supporters who accompany and promote our path and to whom we would like to express our sincere thanks!
One thing is certain: the Kulturschlachthof is an endurance sport, and we are only just warming up!
