By Sara Volker
On October 26th, the governing mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, handed over the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin to Jutta kämper in his office in the Red City Hall along with his laudation. Ms. Kämpe was unable to attend the award ceremony and handover on October 1st, the Berlin Constitution Day.
Jutta Kämper has been campaigning for communally organized housing and living for women in Berlin for over 30 years. The now 89-year-old’s voluntary work began in the early 1990s with her desire to create living space for women in need and for refugee girls. Gender equality and social issues are important motivations for kämper. It implemented three jointly organized new construction projects with 98 owner-occupied residential units. Home ownership can only be acquired by women. The residential project houses “Beginenhof” (Kreuzberg), “Müggelhof” (Friedrichshain) and “Florahof” (Pankow) represent the vision of realizing innovative forms of living for older, single women.
