Where you listen to people and also serve them an espresso – Munich

The open space between the Schrannenhalle and the bunker on Prälat-Zistl-Strasse is not a part of Munich that shines particularly brightly – and yet Michael Spitzenberger and the ten-person team from “Momo listens to” eV do not quarrel for a second with the fact that their transportable “listening room “has put down its first roots here of all places. The nameless, slightly filthy square offers neither what city planners call “quality of stay” nor historical sights. That’s why he draws attention to a small, discreet, light green wooden house that would probably get lost between the crowds and street furniture on Marienplatz. Since April 21, trained listeners have been waiting here with an open ear and a free espresso for fellow human beings who have something to tell, be it annoying, funny, depressing or even happy. Most of the time they don’t wait too long. The listening room is occupied almost all the time, while the 55-year-old Momo initiator talks about his project outside on the bench and keeps providing information to curious passers-by.

It is particularly important for Spitzenberger to make it clear what the listening room is not, namely therapy or psychosocial service, even if the volunteer listeners have the contacts of various contact points at hand and can pass them on if necessary. The term suggestion box also falls far short of the Momo activists, and the listening room has at most the promise of absolute discretion in common with a confessional box. Instead, it’s about non-judgmental but attentive listening, asking questions in dialogue, or rather silently, depending on how the storytellers like it – not that easy and quite exhausting, saysspitzenberger, which is why the listeners take turns every two hours.

Of course, the narrators often have unpleasant, incriminating stories in their luggage. The offer is not only used by lonely seniors, but also, for example, schoolchildren who want to get rid of the burden of constant evaluation. Munich residents and tourists are just as welcome for a bit of Bavarian gossip or small talk in English. The team could of course also use listeners in other languages.

Michael Ende’s heroine in a novel, probably the greatest listening artist in world literature, is not incidentally the inspiration for the project. Spitzenberger keeps coming back to his inspirational figure and even feels reminded of her place of residence, an abandoned amphitheater, by the somewhat special ambience of the square. The enthusiasm also has to do with the Italian-style setting of the novel. Appropriately, a green Vespa stands next to the listening room as an eye-catcher and place to sit, and Spitzenberger emphasizes that the quality of the coffee is almost as important to him as the quality of the listening.

Open detailed view

In Neapolitan espresso bars, the industrial clerk, who is experienced in various sectors, also came across an everyday custom that he converted into a social participation campaign in 2015: With the “Café Sospeso”, the customer pays for two drinks, one of which he consumes and the second in the form of a voucher pinned on as a donation leaves. Of course, the same also works with pre-paid baked goods, doner kebabs, ice cream or a haircut. More than 50 bakeries and shops in Munich, Hamburg, Graz and Brandenburg have now joined the “Brot am Haken” initiative or its successor “Hey” with appropriate “donation boards”.

The pandemic and a Hamburg subway station were the inspiration for the listening room

The “Listening Room” project then matured, more or less by accident, just during the pandemic period, from 2020. First it was awarded in the national competition “Society of Ideas”, finally it took over an improvised listening station in the English Garden and a stationary predecessor in the Neuperlacher ” Community Kitchen” takes shape. However, the “essence” had begun to ferment long before that, remembersspitzenberger. His “Hey” project partner Susanne Eckes and a listening kiosk in a Hamburg underground station provided important impetus. Financial support came from Deutsche Postcodelotteri and others.

A team of TU students from the Department of Construction and Design brought the auditorium into its current form last winter. The result of an internal competition in the creative quarter looks a bit like a tall grand piano without buttons. Others are reminded of an ear, or, inside, a womb-like protective cavity. In any case, the room not only encourages people to talk and listen aesthetically. It also makes optimal use of the tiny floor space with numerous functional details: A lowered step delimits the semicircular protective space, but makes the front part barrier-free accessible, the surrounding bench goes over the lowering directly into a small coffee table.

It’s a pity that the KVR has limited the stand permit to three months, until July 20th, but it doesn’t make the wooden construction a disposable object. Spitzenberger hopes for an extension and has already found an open ear for this in the mayor’s office. If no exception to the rules for temporary constructions should be possible, he would also try a regular building application or move, preferably to Jakobsplatz. In the longer term, and if the “Momo” team continues to grow as before, it doesn’t have to remain at a Munich location anyway. The auditorium is staffed Monday through Friday from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.