temporaerhaus

It’s already mid-December and it’s been winter outside a few times - and if you’re wondering why we’ve posted so little, you’ll find the answer below - spoiler: It has to do with your donations and an unexpected grant we’re currently working on until the end of the year. Together, we’ll get the new house in a better condition than you were used to in the old place by January <\3

That was November

In November, we once again had 14 public events, i.e. an event open to everyone almost every other day – including several events together with the House of Sustainability, with whom we are working ever more closely.

As every month, the sewing café – organized together with the University Group for Sustainability – attracted around 20 people who reworked, repaired and improved textiles on our growing inventory of sewing and overlock machines. There was also a joint meeting with HSGN and the House of Sustainability at the beginning of the month, which was attended by around 30 people.

The Maker Mondays with our open woodworking workshop, 3D printing and laser cutting lab also continue to be popular. Around 30 people attended each of the two events in November. And we are also delighted with the many project photos that people have sent us of the things we build when they are finished – for example the beautiful dog bowl holder in the photo above. The only thing that has been going on in our community longer than Maker Monday is the exchange evening for The Things Network/LoRaWAN, which also took place twice in November.

Even back at the old location, we had regular exchanges on IT security topics: Capture The Flag (CTF) is the name of these meetings and competitions, which had been part of the regular program at Weinhof and started up again in November with the old familiar crew, which makes us very happy! But there are also people coming forward with completely new programming: The Hydra Live Coding Workshop introduced the video synth coding language Hydra to everybody interested. What makes us happy about with these and other programming is that we have a steadily growing base of regular visitors for our regular program. And on the other hand, there are always people coming up with exciting new topics, which are then attended by completely new faces. So it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on our calendar!

This is where you will now also find the OpenStreetMap-Stammtisch, as a regular event. Interested parties and contributors from the region have been meeting for many years to exchange ideas – and since November, this regular meeting takes place within our space, which makes us very happy. The Live Let’s Plays on current and vintage gaming culture are also very popular almost every week – on four occasions in November.

In addition, as in every month, there were at least as many internal construction, organization and planning meetings to further develop the shared house and the offers. And not least because of a wonderful end-of-year surprise.

November and December fever: We’re expanding!

We’ve already mentioned it at the top: Something is happening here (again). Since summer, we’ve been unpacking all our inventory out of boxes and putting it back into operation. And at the latest since our reopening in September, it has gradually become clear what smaller and larger items we are missing in terms of equipment for smooth operations, because it is still stored somewhere in the Weinhof as city inventory that we don’t have access to anymore.

We are very, very grateful that so many people from near and far have supported us over all this time through supporting memberships or on betterplace with direct donations for replacements. Since November, we have been in the process of procuring all the missing equipment and machines that have been financed through your donations.

Totally unexpectedly, a funding opportunity arose from the German Foundation for Engagement and Volunteering (DSEE) at very short notice. The DSEE had already funded us so generously at the end of 2021 that we were able to significantly expand the equipment we had at the time and our associated skills to a truly fantastic level. At the time, however, this was still intended as a supplement to the existing basic equipment procured by the city over the previous five years. In several places, we had replaced the previous equipment with better devices after gaining experience and know-how about what a place like ours needs and what is practical for the public to use. For other parts, however, we were still assuming at the end of 2021 that we would be able to continue the model of a third location that is self-governed by committed volunteers in a city-funded space.

Thanks to DSEE funding, we can now significantly accelerate the replacement of the equipment gaps, which will allow us to expand the quality of our offer and return to what people were used to from us. And last, but not least, we can also continue with some energy-related measures in order to be able to use the charming but somewhat outdated building with slightly less energy.

Of course, this takes up a lot of our free time - over the last few weeks, we’ve been getting our procurement plan up to scratch, putting together shopping baskets and obtaining comparative offers. And last but not least, the incoming orders had to be received, inventoried and sorted. If we have posted a little less in places or emails took a little longer for us to reply to: It could be because of that :D

However, we would of course like to make our new items available to you as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s still worth dropping by. And if there’s still enough time between ordering, unpacking and keeping track of invoices, we want to show you the best purchases here and on our social media channels :)

While it has finally become autumn outside, we have completed the first full month that we have been open – and are almost back to our usual opening hours. We counted 14 public events in October 2023, which means we’re almost back to the “one public event every two days” average we used to have.

In September, we were delighted with the turnout for Maker Monday, where we had 25 people on the premises from a standing start. But that was nothing compared to the three Maker Mondays in October, where 40–45 people were repeatedly active in the wood workshop, at the 3D printer and the laser cutter. Fortunately, more people are now coming forward to help with the workshop every Monday, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to cope with the demand :)

The Live Let’s Play evenings have become a regular new event on Tuesdays, where computer games are tried out live as a cultural form and experienced together. And because we are a third place, this can also take place in our rooms without any pressure to consume stuff – in our opinion, we really need places like this in our cities.

TTN and LoRaWAN have been with us since 2016 – back then, the initiative.ulm.digital set up the first TTN gateways in the city, and the community that has been active with us since then has not only expanded this network, but also encouraged many other interested municipalities to get excited about this free sensor network :) Two TTN evenings took place again in October. And as reported, the Upcycling Nähcafé, which has been part of our community program since December 2016, also started up again in October.

Last, but not least, Free Knowledge is weaved into our DNA, as it has been from the very beginning. The OpenStreetMap-Stammtisch took place in our rooms for the first time in October. And since Wikidata was already the content of the first Germany-wide networking event in the old rooms, it is only logical that we were the location for a joint livestreaming of WikiDataCon 2023 in the region.

On October 3rd, we also spontaneously declared our construction and organization day, which was taking place anyway, to be an open house event. In addition to these public events, our joint house is full of life practically every day, which makes us very happy. There is still a lot of work to be done within the premises – the workshop and soldering lab are continuing to progress, the modernization of the lighting is in its final stages and we have now also found seals for the huge gaps between the glass doors of the main entrance, so that air draw is not as bad a problem as it had been :)

We’ve also been able to integrate the streaming case from WMDE back into our daily routine and have already broadcast several test streams from the living room on Twitch. We want to use this equipment to provide even more live insights into our activities in the future, even if they don’t take place on the “big stage” in the salon. And, of course, we continue to acquire exciting devices that are left to us – for the electronics lab, for the workshop or simply because they’re fun.

The new signpost at the main entrance, currently still based on our Flip 2 display, has a very practical use. Synchronized with our new, finally Google-free event calendar (also available for subscription!), it shows which event is currently running where in the entire building, i.e. also the events of the HdN or of guests. Using this technology, we want to be even more inviting and open to occasional visitors. And by the way, you’ll also notice that our two communities sometimes have three things going on in the building at the same time!

What also brings us a lot of joy: Just as in the old location, we are once again a place to visit for digital politicians and people from the field of administrative digitization who are interested in the experiences of voluntary civic tech. On Friday, October 27, Anna Peters (Green voter for the European elections) and Tobias Bacherle (Member of the German Bundestag, among others in the Digital Committee) visited us and ended up talking to us for much longer than the planned hour about digital volunteering, hack- and make spaces as third places and digitization in municipalities.

We are happy when we can share experiences and pass on knowledge - the next visits are already scheduled for November :)

With all this program for the public and the transfer of knowledge, the community aspect for our community should of course not be forgotten. And so we did not only combine the public pumpkin carving on October 30th with getting to know various groups active in the house, we also grew as a community at the various other evenings, from the house-building event to the spontaneously formed analog photography interest group – precisely because we want to be a third place where people enjoy hanging out.

May we introduce? These cuties are three of six new additions to the university group for sustainability and the sewing café crew. The sewing café started again on October 9th and that’s why we need lots of well-functioning machines for everyone who wants to take part!

The Pfaff Hobbymatik 801 is now free of dirt and lint, freshly oiled and purring like a kitten! It can straight stitch and zigzag and is guaranteed to get through many layers of jeans.

The Kayser 45 (or Janome-1 as it says inside its cast iron case) was unfortunately not so well, something was grinding a lot and the needle hit the metal of the hook at the bottom (the mechanism of the lower thread). A perfect opportunity to learn how to adjust after cleaning. After changing the height of the needle bar, changing when the hook turns—with a lot of trial and error, and lo and behold, it works again! But then the mechanics of the feed dog were misaligned—oops, the Kayser remains a construction site for the time being.

And the Adlerette also got a major overhaul. The nameplate says 420, which according to sewing machine directory means it is a good 60 years old. It also says that the old plastic gears are often a source of problems. Fortunately, the gearwheel on our machine was intact. So we had to clean all the lubrication points, re-tension the V-belt, oil everything and reassemble it (photo story on Mastodon).

And now she is sewing really well again, even through four layers of jeans! So we are now perfectly prepared for the next sewing café on Monday, November 6 :)

Once again, we are returning to the roots from which we grew: The datalove university group (also known as UlmAPI) was the nucleus officially recognized by the student council in 2011, from which, among other things, the first Jugend hackt in Ulm emerged in 2015—and then the idea for a third place in the city. The rest, as they say, is history.

But we have never forgotten the university. That’s why we’re at the Uniforum today not just digitally, but also to talk to and with exhibits to try out. We are very pleased that we are once again receiving a lot of interest from students, especially in the last few semesters, who are active at temporärhaus and enliven the datalove university group.

In addition to many links, for example to the university group for sustainability through our sewing café, the topic of mobility data naturally remains a popular perennial topic. And so today we are exhibiting a 3D printer, a Pong console made in the workshop and a Matelight as well as a best of the real-time public transport displays created at the university. That’s where we came from, among other things—yet another back to the roots ;)

We’ve been open for about two weeks now – time for a recap of what has happened since.

Our great opening

Highlight of the month is naturally the joint Opening of temporärhaus and Haus der Nachhaltigkeit on Saturday, September 16th. The 99 reserved ticket slots were quickly booked, and, to our delight, so was the waiting list.

Naturally, we aimed to include interested persons who could not attend in person. Hence, we tinkered until the end to provide everybody with a live stream – including a mobile setup for a guided tour across all rooms. Of course, we did not turn away anyone who showed up!

The grand opening also marked the final stretch for most parts of the remodeling efforts which took place basically every day during the weeks before. There are still minor issues to be completed, but the opening date made it clear that the stage, all the PA and event infrastructure, the accessible toilet and a bunch of other construction sites needed to be done by that date. All these remodelling efforts have only been possible due to thousands of volunteered work hours by both our communities. And we are really proud of what we have been able to achieve together as a civic community!

The date for the opening was purposely set for the day of Kulturnacht Ulm/Neu-Ulm. Beginning with the very first day, we wanted to open our shared house for the general public and anybody interested. Harbor songs were played by “The Dogs of The Bay”, a band with members from the Haus der Nachhaltigkeit. Meanwhile, both our groups catered all interested visitors with food and drink, led guided tours across the rooms and let them experience the exhibits: audiovisual animations of Wikipedia edits, better images for the AI hype and interactive exhibits and art by bleeptrack. We were very delighted about the great demand, since queues started to form along the sidewalk right from the minute we opened in the evening!

Regular program right from the opening

Our regular programming started immediately after the opening weekend. The re-opening of our Maker Monday on Monday, September 18th drew a crowd of about 25 people. Right on the next evening, a Live Let’s Play followed.

Wednesday, September 27th saw the re-boot of another favourite of ours that we had previously organized for years in the old rooms at Weinhof: LoRaWAN and TTN is back in business for anybody interested in free sensor networks and IoT. As before, every other week will see either an open evening and a hack night focused on finishing one’s project on a rotational basis.
The same day saw our Temporärhaus hosting the first partner event for ZAWiW’s Fall Academy’: We demonstrated how to contribute to OpenStreetMap’s quality through the StreetComplete app.

On Thursday, September 28th, a four-person delegation of our patron Wikimedia Deutschland (WMDE) stopped by our house while they were on the way to WikiCon in Linz. Together with 13 of our volunteers we held a planning workshop about what will and can happen in our rooms, how to report our activities to WMDE and how to keep the public informed about our activities.

Along all these “official” events, there is still a lot of work to be done. Some of the construction sites that were temporarily put on hold for the opening need to be completed. The wood workshop has seen a lot of progress and one tool after another becomes usable. We strive to finish all the open tasks together with Haus der Nachhaltigkeit by the end of the year.

That’s not all, by far!

We are looking forward to re-boot all the usual, regular events that you have come to enjoy in the past years. October will see the re-start of Nähcafé, our textile and sewing workshop program. There is still a lot to be done, but having finished the main remodelling tasks allows a lot of other programming to resume – both ones you have been familiar with, and others that are only possible through our new-found cooperation. As before, you are invited to participate to mold our third place for our twin cities.

From 2017 through 2020 we had created monthly activity and transparency reports for one patron and the lord mayor. We want to re-introduce this kind of chronicling – but now, finally, also for the general public, in order to create transparency and accountability.

The last few years have been very turbulent. A pandemic, a lawsuit, the search for a new house and the renaming of the community and e.V. to temporärhaus have kept us all on our toes. But now the time has finally come: on Saturday, 16th of September, we will open the doors of our new house in Neu-Ulm for the first time for the Kulturnacht (culture night), a house that we have been preparing together with the Haus der Nachhaltigkeit (HdN) since May and which we will now finally open together! 🥳

We have already teased a few first impressions of the renovation phase on social media and our website. Now that the renovation is largely complete, everything looks even more colourful, bigger, and more beautiful! 🤩

As in previous years, we have of course prepared an exciting programme for the Kulturnacht. We’ll be open from 19:00 to 01:00 and show you digital art and other bits in the spacious premises. Thanks to a joint performance with the HdN, there will even be live music this time! Look forward to the following programme provided by us:

• Screen printing: feel free to bring textiles that you would like to have screen printed :)
• Exhibitions on the current AI hype
• Retro co-op gaming
• Guided tours through the new rooms

In addition, the HdN will have its own programme. So it’s worth taking a look at the Neu-Ulm side of the Danube! You can find us at Augsburgerstr. 23-25 in Neu-Ulm, which is easy to reach on foot.

Unfortunately, you don’t have time on Kulturnacht?
No problem! Immediately after the Kulturnacht, we’ll be offering some of our familiar formats on a regular basis again, starting with a Maker Monday on 18.09.2023. You’ll soon find all the other dates in our calendar 📅 again as usual.

We look forward to seeing you!
Your temporärhaus-Community

PS: We have finally managed to get a hang of this ‘digitalisation’ and there is now a form to become a supporting member of the temporärhaus e.V. 😉

We’re not even getting around to posting all the numerous construction and furnishing progresses—the renovation work is progressing at lightning speed so that we can open our doors for the first public events as soon as possible. Together with Haus der Nachhaltigkeit, we are installing drywall, painting the existing walls, ensuring the greatest possible accessibility and furnishing the parts that are already ready for occupancy.

The good news is that, in addition to our know-how, we also have a lot of material that will enable us to offer you the basic, familiar program again relatively quickly. So far, we have also been able to cover a good proportion of the renovation costs from our membership fees.

Nevertheless, there are some points where you can help us—and since there have been repeated requests for how you can currently support us, we would like to list them here!

Supporting membership for long-term planning security

The more members and supporters with predictable financial contributions we have, the more solidly we can plan upcoming purchases. Every single membership gives us a little more leeway and long-term independence. Only with a broad membership base can we bridge phases without external funding, for example. If you don’t want to become a sustaining member right away, a permanent donation via Betterplace is also an option—with a sustaining membership, however, your contribution ends up with us without any deductions and can be used for our offers.

Of course, memberships and sponsorships from companies and institutions are also welcome—please contact us, if you have any ideas! We are a non-profit (gemeinnützig) organization, which means that all contributions and donations are tax-deductible.

Individual donations for missing equipment

We also have good news about equipment and facilities: in 2021, before the dispute with the city began, we had obtained funding from the DSEE and were able to acquire a lot of equipment that now exclusively belongs to us. Nevertheless, after we were kicked out, we unfortunately had to leave behind some great equipment that we had selected and maintained, but which had been paid for by the city. In particular, a sliding table saw, a jointer and thickness planer and two band saws are now waiting for 1.5 years in the former wood workshop at the Weinhof for the reopening promised by the city. Above all, they can no longer be offered by us during our workshop hours.

We have since been able to fill some of these gaps in our range with donations in kind: We now have another laser cutter that is practically equivalent to the old one, and our friends from Haus der Nachhaltigkeit have organized a beautiful old workbench and a circular saw, both of which we are currently refurbishing 🫶

However, we are still sorely missing some machines: a plunge saw for large wooden panels, an industrial vacuum cleaner for the workshop and a compressor, for example. For the necessary safety and fire protection requirements, we also need CO2 extinguishers for the laser cutter again and need to have the extinguishers still in the new building refurbished and brought up to code. Small items such as first aid kits and fire safety signs also cost money.

Support

If you would like to support us, there are several ways to do so: For new purchases, we have created corresponding budgets for individual donations on Betterplace. We will cover part of these requirements with donations from our members, for whom this facility is very important, and deposit the amounts paid in this way on Betterplace. Donations in kind also help us. The expensive thing about first aid kits is not the material, but the first aid kit with wall bracket—and if you or your company would have thrown something like this out anyway, feel free to contact us!

Last but not least, we would like to thank you once again for all the support and encouragement we have already received from so many of you—even from unexpected quarters. Your support has kept us going throughout the legal dispute and motivates us to now join forces and enjoy our work to turn the former Sport-Sohn building into a great space by civil society for civil society <3

Now it’s public: „Haus der Nachhaltigkeit“ and our volunteer group which was formerly active at Weinhof move into the former Sport-Sohn headquarters in Augsburger Straße in Neu-Ulm. On May 3, we received the keys to the premises from the Munk company, and we would like to open the doors to the public as soon as possible. Since last summer, we have been longing to offer our usual, regular program for the interested public again. Through the partnership of our groups, we can expand our offerings beyond what we could do on our own!

Two groups that go well together

Our two associations had already been loosely connected in the past through personal acquaintances and mutual visits. As we were both looking for a suitable place to stay, Neu-Ulm city councilwoman Christina Richtmann gave us the impulse to give it a try together and put us in touch with local real estate developer Munk. “It’s a great match,” we quickly agreed. Our two groups want to make it possible to experience today how we can shape a better future ourselves.

For example, Haus der Nachhaltigkeit will set up a borrowing shop on the premises. Anyone who needs tools, gardening equipment or catering equipment can borrow them there—instead of buying things that are only used a few times a year. Reduced resource consumption and social aspects are also the focus of the repair workshop for large electrical appliances “repair4U”, the winner of the Berblinger Contest 2022. The two initiatives are now also working together on these points. The two groups therefore spent several months developing a usage concept and, following mediation by Richtmann, drew up a rental agreement with the Munk company.

An open house by civil society for civil society

After all, it’s not far from the repair workshop to our electronics lab equipment. From the open wood workshop to the sensor network meeting, from the sewing café to the Wikipedia beginners’ workshop, we see a lot of overlap in our programs. After all, it’s always about self-efficacy. Experiencing first-hand how we can work together towards a better future. And for almost a year now, our diverse inventory has been waiting to be used again by as many people as possible. Last year, the city of Ulm asked us volunteers to leave the rooms we had been using at the Weinhof since 2016. The inventory we have built up over the years has been stored since then. In future, 3D printers, laser cutters, sewing machines and tools will once again fill the workshops and the event technology will be used for lectures and livestreams by our two groups.

Eight weeks of renovation sprint

To make this possible, we will first invest a lot of volunteer time for construction and organizational measures. Much of the necessary work will be carried out in a joint volunteer effort, especially over the next eight weeks. We want to fill the rooms as quickly as possible with a wide range of offers for the public—with the program offered voluntarily at the Weinhof until summer 2022, with the offers of Haus der Nachhaltigkeit, and of course we are particularly excited to see what new things will emerge together that we have not yet had on our radar. That is why the first offers are to start in parallel with the ongoing construction and refurbishment work as soon as the city of Neu-Ulm has granted the necessary official approvals.

Sponsoring memberships and support possible

The rental agreement is initially for two years, with an option to extend—as long as the building is still standing. The Munk company was very accommodating to our two groups with the rent, which and the necessary building materials will be paid for by our associations from donations, sponsorship money and membership fees, and we are looking for further support. Whether sponsoring memberships, financial donations, tradesmen’s services or active support with the renovation—everything will help us in the coming weeks and months to make the building attractive and accessible to the public.

Nevertheless, then as now, no one has to be a member of either association to take part in programs or offer them themselves. Our programs in Neu-Ulm will continue to be as open as they were at the Weinhof.

We look forward to seeing you!

Wie bereits berichtet, hat das Landgericht Stuttgart am 24.04.2023 im Namenrechtsstreit zwischen der Stadt Ulm und uns der Klage der Stadt in allen Punkten stattgegeben. Das (noch nicht rechtskräftige) Urteil ist unter dem Aktenzeichen 17 O 191/22 nun auch bei openjur.de auffindbar. Wir haben bereits die Nachricht erhalten, dass die Stadt uns über den Weg der im Urteil genannten vorläufigen Vollstreckbarkeit sehr bald das Führen des Namens „Verschwörhaus“ untersagen lassen wird, wenn wir ihn nicht sofort ändern. Wir lassen derzeit noch prüfen, welche weiteren rechtlichen Optionen für uns erfolgversprechend sein könnten. Damit wir aber nicht auch noch die Kosten für eine vorläufige Vollstreckung tragen müssen, setzen wir bereits jetzt die notwendigen Schritte um, um unseren Vereinsnamen, unsere Website, unsere Social-Media-Kanäle und unser sonstiges öffentliches Auftreten wenigstens interimsweise auf einen vorläufigen anderen Namen umzustellen.

Die Begründung des Gerichts

Wie in der Urteilsbegründung nachlesbar ist, ist das Gericht der Argumentation der Stadt in sehr weiten Teilen gefolgt. Die Stadt behauptet bis heute — unserer Meinung nach immer noch fälschlicherweise — dass die Räume am Weinhof von Anfang an unter dem Namen „Verschwörhaus“ eine städtische Einrichtung sein sollten.

In seiner Begründung hat das Gericht viele unserer Belege nicht gewürdigt. Dass sich Oberbürgermeister Czisch 2016 in der Zeitung sowie im Gemeinderatsprotokoll des Beschlusses für ein „Stadtlabor“ zitieren ließ, „dass die Stadt nur anschiebe. Es sei kein kommunales Projekt.“ findet sich in der Urteilsbegründung ebenso wenig wie die Hinweise auf den (bereits 2016 mit dem OB besprochenen) Verein der Aktiven in der Gemeinderatsdrucksache (GD) 125/17 oder die Selbstverwaltungsstrukturen in der GD 234/20. Diese Gemeinderatsdrucksachen wurden jeweils von der Verwaltung ausgearbeitet und vom Gemeinderat so beschlossen.

Das Gericht hätte durchaus argumentieren können, dass die Marke uns Ehrenamtlichen zustehen soll, ob nun sogar als Etablissementbezeichnung oder nicht. Schließlich hatten wir den Namen zuerst öffentlich verwendet, die Räume von Anfang an umfangreich mit Inhalten, Einrichtung und Leben befüllt, die Website unter dem passenden Domainnamen eingerichtet, gezahlt und gepflegt, diverse Social-Media-Kanäle bespielt, uvm… Das Gericht nennt zwar unseren Einsatz und unser Engagement – wir hätten dadurch jedoch keine eigenen Namensrechte erworben, sondern die Etablissementbezeichnung nebst Logo für die Stadt erst begründet (Rn. 107). Auch all die Belege für unsere Verfasstheit schon vor der Vereinsgründung werden im Urteil schlicht nicht erwähnt, und dadurch auch nicht rechtlich eingeordnet. Wir hatten unseren Aufwand schließlich im Vertrauen auf das Wort des Oberbürgermeisters betrieben, und nicht etwa um für die Stadt eine Marke zu etablieren, mit der sie nun tun kann was sie will.

Im Urteil finden sich darüberhinaus noch einige sachlich falsche Angaben, die offenbar direkt aus den Schriftsätzen der Stadt übernommen wurden, obgleich wir diese bereits mit Belegen bestritten hatten. Auch die Darstellung zeitlicher Abläufe deckt sich nicht mit der belegbaren Zeitleiste. Hier werden wir jeweils eine Tatbestandsberichtigung beantragen.

Berufung und Interimsname

Wir haben rechtlich die Möglichkeit, Berufung gegen das Urteil einzulegen. Der Streitwert wurde vom Gericht nochmals ohne weitere Begründung erhöht (Rn. 24 im Urteil), was die Kosten für diesen Schritt deutlich in die Höhe treiben würde. Wir beraten uns derzeit noch mit unserer Anwältin, wie weitere Schritte aussehen könnten, und welche Folgen und Erfolgsaussichten diese jeweils hätten. Bedauerlicherweise verfügt die Stadt, im Gegensatz zu uns, über viel Geld und hauptamtliche Angestellte, die sie für solch einen Rechtsstreit gegen eine Ehrenamtscommunity einsetzen kann. Umso mehr haben wir uns über Angebote weiterer juristischer Unterstützung bei der Analyse der Urteilsbegründung gefreut, die uns in den letzten Tagen erreicht haben :)

Egal aber ob wir in Berufung gehen möchten oder nicht: Die Stadt wird laut eigener Aussage die vorläufige Vollstreckung beantragen, falls wir nicht zügig die Nutzung des Namens einstellen. Dieser Schritt wäre zusätzlich mit Kosten für uns verbunden.

Das heißt, dass wir gerade daran arbeiten, in den nächsten Tagen alle unsere Aktivitäten vorläufig auf einen anderen Namen umzuziehen, da wir nicht mehr unter dem bisherigen Namen auftreten dürfen. Die 2016 unmittelbar nach der Öffnung der Räume am Weinhof durch uns registrierte Domain und unsere Social-Media-Accounts müssen wir zwar nicht an die Stadt abgeben, müssen aber unter anderen Domain- und Accountnamen auftreten und dürfen unter den ursprünglichen URIs keinerlei Inhalte mehr anbieten, die in Konkurrenz zur Marke der Stadt stehen. Auch Weiterleitungen sind uns wohl nicht gestattet – so sehr es uns schmerzt, dass wir damit leider ganz im Stil einer Behörde eklatant gegen ein Grundprinzip des Web verstoßen.

Stadt Ulm darf Name nun nach eigenem Gutdünken bespielen

Die Stadt Ulm darf unterdessen mit dem ursprünglich von uns erdachten Namen am Weinhof auftreten und darunter jedes Programm veranstalten, das sie für richtig hält. Dies beinhaltet natürlich auch Programm, das wir eher für Digitalisierungs- und Beteiligungstheater halten würden, und worüber wir uns in der Vergangenheit in einem konstruktiv-kritischen Austausch mit der Stadtverwaltung zu befinden geglaubt haben. Der unserer Ansicht nach schon durch den Umgang der Stadt mit uns Ehrenamtlichen angeknackste Name darf auch über eine eventuelle Berufungsphase hinweg durchgehend stadtseitig mit Inhalten befüllt werden, denen wir gelinde gesagt kritisch gegenüberstehen.

Bisherige Kosten und Verwendung von Spenden

Die entstandenen Kosten für das bisherige Verfahren sind substanziell. Das Landgericht Stuttgart hat festgelegt, dass wir als unterlegene Partei 5/6 der angefallenen Gerichtskosten der ersten Instanz übernehmen müssen. Damit haben wir bislang insgesamt folgende Kosten zu tragen:

• 2.171,50 €, Abmahnkosten durch die Stadt, von August 2022 (außergerichtlich)
• 14.414,38 € (5/6 von 17.297,26 €), gegnerische Anwaltskosten lt. Tabelle + Gerichtskosten 1. Instanz (LG Stuttgart) — finale Beträge stehen noch nicht fest, fallen aber in diese Größenordnung
• Bisher über 16.000€ eigene Kosten für Widersprüche gegen die EUIPO-Markenanmeldungen und Rechtsberatungs- und Anwaltskosten

Ein Teil dieser Kosten wurde bereits fällig und ist bezahlt. Wir konnten hierfür Rücklagen des Vereins und die in den letzten 12 Monaten sagenhaften ~8.000€ an Spenden „für schlechte Zeiten“ aus der Community und von Sympathisant*innen nutzen. Ein signifikanter Teil der Kosten ist aber noch offen und wird in den kommenden Tagen fällig falls wir nicht weiter vor Gericht streiten.

Sollten wir Berufung einlegen, müssten wir bei einer vorläufigen Vollstreckung wohl zunächst nur die Abmahnkosten der Stadt bezahlen. Der restliche Teil dieser Summe ist bis zum Abschluss des Berufungsverfahrens nicht sofort fällig. Sollte in der zweiten Instanz sogar Revision zugelassen werden, könnte es gar bis vor den Bundesgerichtshof gehen. Das mit jeder Instanz steigende Gesamtkostenrisiko schwebt dann natürlich bis zum Ende des Instanzenzugs über unserem Verein.

Die zu erwartenden Kosten für eine Fortsetzung des Rechtsstreits wären immens. Eine Berufung geht grob abgeschätzt minimal mit folgendem zusätzlichen Kostenrisiko einher:

• ca 22.500 €, Berufung in 2. Instanz (Oberlandesgericht): Eigene + gegnerische Anwaltskosten sowie Gerichtskosten
• ca 29.720 €, 3. Instanz (ggf. Revision beim BGH): Eigene + gegnerische Anwaltskosten sowie Gerichtskosten

Für eine Kommune wie Ulm sind solche Beträge im Rahmen eines aus öffentlichen Geldern finanzierten Rechtsstreits kein Problem. Prozesskostenhilfe zu beantragen wäre für uns zwar eine Möglichkeit dieses Machtgefälle wenigstens abzuschwächen, bedingt aber eine detaillierte Offenlegung der Vereinsfinanzen — samt aller Sachwerte. Die Veräußerung dieser Sachwerte stünde in der Regel vor einer Bewilligung von Prozesskostenhilfe. Dank der Zweckgebundenheit einiger unserer durch Sachspenden entstandenen Sachwerte wäre eine exakte Aufstellung veräußerbarer Gegenstände zudem knifflig und zeitintensiv — ganz zu schweigen von der eigentlichen Aufgabe, verschiedenste Sachwerte dann tatsächlich für bares Geld zu veräußern. Am Ende hätten wir im Zweifel einen Rechtsstreit um den Namen in zweiter oder sogar dritter Instanz durchgefochten, aber nicht einmal mehr Equipment übrig um unserer eigentlichen ehrenamtlichen Arbeit nachgehen zu können.

Wir möchten diesen Zwischenbericht vorlegen, um klar aufzuzeigen, welchen Druck eine öffentliche Verwaltung (und durch die Erhöhung des ohnehin schon hohen Streitwertes in diesem Falle leider auch das Gericht) mit so einer Klage auf einen Verein wie den unsrigen ausüben kann, und wo die Schwierigkeiten in der Verteidigung gegen Klagen dieser Art konkret liegen.

Die guten Nachrichten zum Schluss

Uns erreichen nach wie vor nicht nur großzügige Spenden, sondern auch unterstützende Nachrichten und vielfältige Supportangebote. Das ist für unsere ehrenamtliche Gruppe — bei all der nun seit gut eineinhalb Jahren laufenden Belastung durch diesen, unserer Ansicht nach, völlig unnötigen und für sie selbst schädlichen Klageweg der Stadt — immer wieder ein großer Hoffnungsschimmer.

Neben den vielen Sympathiebekundungen haben wir in den vergangenen Monaten vor allem aus dem Umfeld örtlicher IT- und IT-naher Unternehmen gleich mehrere Angebote für temporäre Räume bekommen. Das freut uns sehr, denn neben dem rund um den Digitalen Wandel dringend notwendigen Wissenstransfer in die öffentliche Verwaltung hinein, möchten wir – wie von Anfang an am Weinhof – natürlich vor allem vielfältige Angebote für die engagierte und interessierte Öffentlichkeit anbieten.

Von der offenen Werkstatt über das Elektronik- und Lötlabor, von Frauen und Computerkram (F.U.C.K.) bis zum OpenStreetMap-Workshop, von Workshops mit den deutschlandweiten Vorreiter*innen rund um Open Data bis hin zum Einstiegsworkshop rund um Wikipedia, von der TTN-Gruppe über Jugendangebote und das Nähcafé – in unseren verteilten Lagern wartet seit beinahe einem Jahr eine ganze Menge wertvolles Inventar sehnlichst darauf, für all diese Angebote endlich wieder von einem breiten Publikum genutzt werden zu können. Wir möchten bald wieder auch ein physischer und offener Ort für Austausch, Diskussion, Selbstermächtigung und eine gehörige Portion „einfach mal machen!“ sein.

Aufgrund der noch offenen Aufgaben rund um das Urteil sind wir immer noch etwas vage. Nur soviel sei nach diesem Jahr der eingeschränkten Kommunikation vorab endlich erlaubt zu sagen: Verfolgt weiter unsere Social-Media-Kanäle, denn wir freuen uns darauf, euch hoffentlich schon in Kürze positive Neuigkeiten berichten zu können. Vorerst wird dies zwar nicht mehr unter dem gewohnten Namen geschehen. Aber eventuell gibt es schon sehr bald wieder eine geöffnete Türe und unsere bekannten Inhalte.

Today, the Regional Court of Stuttgart issued a judgment against us in the trademark dispute brought forward against us by the city of Ulm. Unfortunately, the court ruled in favor of the city on all points 😔

We have not yet been able to review the detailed judgment with our lawyer, so we do not yet know how the legal dispute will continue over the next few days.

Overall, however, we believe that the ruling sends a very clear and problematic signal to digital volunteering in Germany. In most cases, communities like ours are interested in clever technical solutions and objectives, and therefore work quickly on different projects instead of directly establishing legal structures (such as an e.V.). The “Stadtlabor” project in Ulm was originally intended for this type of involvement. How should a community like ours behave in the future in order to avoid the risk of its voluntary services being appropriated by (financially or politically) more powerful sponsors?

There will certainly be more opportunities to ask and answer these and similar questions in discussions over the next few days. At the moment, we are a bit exhausted from the day, and if you need to read more, we can only refer you to our Twitter thread on the topic, as well as first articles on the more detailed reasons for the judgment.

In the short or long term—and depending on what comes out of the consultation with our lawyer—we may have to give up our name and, for example, shut down or rename this website, our social media accounts and our association.

Only one thing is certain so far: as a community, we will continue to work together on digitalization issues and promote and demand the self-determined development of our civil society. Last but not least, your great support so far encourages us to continue in this direction, and we will of course continue to accept donations via our donation form as long as it is still possible here 😊

More updates will follow, hopefully very soon!