Technology, teamwork, tinkering
The Repair Café brings nostalgic items back to life
The Repair Café emphasises team effort. © WISTA Management GmbH
Putting an end to throwing away: Manfred Eger is the mastermind behind Adlershof’s Repair Café © WISTA Management GmbH
The Technology Park Adlershof is well-known for finding solutions to challenges like climate change and builds on local networks to do so. Since November last year, there is a new service in Alt-Adlershof that ties in with this idea: The Repair Café at Alte Schule, Dörpfeldstrasse 54/56, opens its doors on every first and third Monday.
The idea came from Manfred Eger, an economist. “I have always had a soft spot for the Science and Technology Park,” he says. While taking a walk, Eger noticed that the Science City did not yet have a Repair Café. “That really surprised me.” Eger quickly found a like-minded team in Helga Janowski und Susanne Sailer, André Schaal, Roland Gödicke and Volker Brien. KIEZKLUB Alte Schule, a community centre, offered a space and wanted to work together. The team was able to use 450 euros from the centre’s budget to buy tools.
Werner Hartwieg was one of the first people to drop in when the Repair Café opened for the first time. He brought a radio to the creative space of the community centre and had a cup of coffee. A car mechanic and engineer by training, he liked the idea of repairing things instead of throwing them away and has been a member of the crew since then. The café is based on helping people to help themselves. People are not just meant to observe, but also to get involved by turning a few screws themselves: “We have an assortment of screw and Torx bits to open things up. Sometimes the screws are hidden in the casing. A quick look online can help to find out how to access them. The internet is also full of operating manuals,” say Volker Brien.
Up to ten people come round in one evening and bring a variety of things: drills, hoovers, fan heaters, small electrical appliances such as shavers, toasters, or coffee machines, music boxes, and even old keyboards. Sometimes, all something needs is a spare part for a few euros and it’s as good as new. The soldering iron is a commonly used tool. One time, an elderly lady came by with two old radios. Werner Hartwieg enjoys thinking back to that moment: “It was a waterproof radio for the bathroom and rather complicated. I first had to dig out the screws and remove the rubber seal.” He had then found that it must’ve been something with the circuit board and couldn't help the lady. This also happens sometimes.
Hartwieg and the elderly lady looked at the second radio. It buzzed when switched on and had a throw antenna. “Her late husband had tied a knot in it. I took the radio apart and suddenly she got excited and called ‘Mensch, I can hear something.’ She was really happy because she was attached to the radio and the memories surrounding it.”
Such emotional outbursts are rather unusual. Last time, someone came round with a broken fan heater. He even had the spare part with him. “We tinkered with it for quite a while, but the fan heater worked again in the end. The man left the café with a smile on his face because he could take his little fan heater home with him again. These are happy moments,” says Eger, looking back.
Susanne Sailer has many good things to say about working with the café: “If one of us finished repairing a device, we look how far the others have gotten and contribute our knowledge and skills with theirs. It’s quite wonderful.” Many people come back and bring other things. To make sure that everyone gets their turn and initial preparations can be made, those interested are asked to register in advance and fill out a quick monitoring sheet. “The first question is: Is the device still under warranty? If so, we tell people to stay away, or else the warranty is voided.” This is also stated in the house rules, which must be signed by everyone who visits the Repair Café, explains Brien.
On 23 April 2024, the European Parliament adopted a right to repair. Manufacturers are obligated to prioritise repairs and facilitate the repair of a product at a reasonable price instead of simply replacing devices. Moreover, a repair bonus is planned for small electrical appliances like toasters, coffeemakers, and headphones. It will be yet another reason to visit the Repair Café Adlershof.
Susanne Gietl for Adlershof Journal