When his wife died, Klaus Serbin suddenly lived alone in his house. After that, the 81-year-old wasn’t just missing society. There was also the large garden that someone had to look after: mowing the lawn, raking leaves, pruning the trees, it was hardly possible to do it with one’s back alone. He wanted help. Only by whom? Klaus Serbin found the answer to his question from Andy Vogel, a social science student at Munich University of Applied Sciences in his ninth semester. The two of them have been living together in a kind of multi-generation flat share in Planegg since May 2019.
“We actually fit together really well,” says Klaus Serbin, white hair, striped sweater. “But he has a strange diet method. He doesn’t eat breakfast.” Serbin grimaces, Andy laughs. When they visit home, they sit together at the living room table. It’s a Wednesday, it is important to emphasize that there was no way they would have had time for a conversation on Sundays. “We always go for a walk in the forest, which I think is cool because I’m a nature lover,” says Andy Vogel. Then there is cake, and at the end of the day, Klaus Serbin cooks. French, sometimes Middle Eastern or European cuisine. The senior gathered his influences on previous trips.
The basic rule of “living for help” is: For every square meter of living space, the student helps out for one hour per week. But the two don’t see it that closely.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
Together, he and Andy Vogel found their way through the “Living for Help” project, an offer from the Neuhausen senior citizens’ meeting and the student union. Students stay with seniors who still have a free room and do not pay rent. You only have to pay a small contribution to the ancillary costs yourself. In return, the students and now also apprentices or young professionals help their landlords with everyday tasks: In addition to gardening, cooking, shopping, household help or accompanying them to a doctor’s appointment can be. The basic rule: the student helps out for one hour per week per square meter of living space.
Andy Vogel does gardening and helps with the house. “For me it is simply a matter of having someone I trust in the house with whom I can talk and who has other interests,” says his landlord, Klaus Serbin.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
Klaus Serbin lives in a spacious, two-story house with a terrace and garden. “Built in 1969. It’s a real family house,” says Serbin. His three children would have lived here in the past. But now Andy Vogel is allowed to use more than three rooms for himself on the lower floor. Andy Vogel and Klaus Serbin don’t take the basic rule that exactly: “For me, it’s simply about having someone I trust in the house, with whom I can talk and who has other interests,” says Klaus Serbin. But they also have common interests: They prefer to talk about technology. That is, Andy shows him how the computer works. In return, Klaus Serbin explains the technology behind fiber optic cables to the student. Klaus Serbin used to be a technician; in Germany he helped set up cable television with measurement technology.
For Andy, the Neuhausen senior citizens’ meeting project is very important. Because: “In every city, whether Munich or Berlin, living space is scarce or simply not affordable,” he says. He actually comes from northern Germany, in Munich he previously lived in two other partnerships. As a student, he has to save money. But the focus of the “Living for Help” project is more than just cheap living space on the one hand and everyday help for the elderly on the other: “It is a solidarity between the generations,” says Brigitte Tauer. “For many, it is important that they are not alone in the apartment or house. That they know that someone is there when they are not doing so well.”
Brigitte Tauer is one of three employees who takes care of finding accommodation between senior citizens and students. The project has been around since 1996. More than 80 couples are currently living in the city of Munich and in the neighboring districts. But how do you bring young and old together? “The main criterion is that the couple go well with each other and that the student likes to provide the services that the senior expects,” says Brigitte Tauer. However, she emphasizes that this does not include any nursing activities.
First, both parties fill out a questionnaire about themselves. Students indicate which tasks they are willing to do. Then they are invited to a meeting for senior citizens. The seniors call when they need a roommate, then employees of the senior citizens’ meeting come to their home. “Of course, we see what it looks like there and whether the way to the university or the training center is not too far away,” says Brigitte Tauer.
During the past two years of the pandemic in particular, Brigitte Tauer noticed how important the “Living for Help” project was. Many of the seniors told her they were grateful to have someone to talk to during this time. And the young people are happy to be connected. “It’s often like a family connection. Especially when you come from far away,” says Brigitte Tauer. The problem, however, is that they have so far not been able to draw the attention of the elderly to the project. Investing more money in public relations, offering courses for students, such as first aid or those about depression in old age, that is their goal. But financial resources are scarce.
If you listen to Klaus Serbin and Andy Vogel when they talk about their time together so far, it actually sounds less like a community of convenience than like family. Or an old friendship: They tease each other. Laugh and roll your eyes. Then they tell how they once went out on a mild summer evening to watch a comet. Or the day they wanted to go to the cinema and the tickets were sold out. Oh, and there was a private tango concert by two musicians from the symphony orchestra. The age difference between them? No problem. They have a lot to tell each other.
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