Solidarisches Netzwerk von Nachbarschaft und Gewerbetreibenden in Berlin-Kreuzberg

Brief von OraNostra an Sigrid Rausing (engl.)

to Ms Sigirid Rausing
Sigrid Rausing Trust | GRANTA
– via e-mail:

bethany@srtrust.org | info@granta.com 


Dear Ms Rausing,

perhaps you can support us. We don’t need your money, nor your economic relations, we need your active intervention, if this will be possible. Recently we learned from newspaper articles that you invested money in the real estate company Victoria Immo Properties s.r.l.., with headquarters in Luxembourg. Maybe you don’t even know this or it might be a misinformation. I send you the link to the article below. This path of money was tracked back by investigative journalists to your family solicitors, notarially certified in the ‚Register of Transparency‘ of Luxembourg.  If this was a false conclusion from the journalists, you may stop reading here and do something more important.

In case, it’s a true information, we need your support to prevent this company from doing harm to people, we know, esteem and need essentially. So, you will be a great help to everyone, if you can use your impact on those three solicitors, who were declared to be your family solicitors.

I’ll tell you, what had happened at the end of last year already: 
The Victoria Immo Properties s.r.l. bought the house in Oranienstraße 25, 10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg, from the Berggruen Holdings GmbH. This real estate purchase was implemented by the solicitors that advocate your family asserts, same as these of your trust and the Farm & Forst Fonds of your sister. This might be a coincidence which has nothing to do with your productive investments, but for the journalists it was more than a concurrence. 
https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1135512.verdraengung-kartonmilliarden-gegen-buecher.html

The bookshop Kisch & Co, that has been at this place for nearly 23 years, was attempting in vain to get an extension of the leasing contract for months, without reply of the previous housing company. In January the commercial manager of the bookshop was told, the new owner of the house, Oranienstraße 25, was the Victoria Immo Properties s.r.l.,  now managed by Diorit housing company in Berlin. He tried to get in contact with them immediately and was told, an attorney of the company would continue the proceedings. So the bookshop sent the annual accounts, monthly accounts and a business plan as demanded. For months the commercial manager waited for a response and tried untiringly to keep the negotiations running. At about the same time as the Corona sanctions began, he received the answer that his lease contract would not be continued.  His company had to leave the commercial premises at the end of May this year. He was also told, the yield expectations were far more than the bookshop could ever pay. Obviously they were looking for a prosperous new tenant. So the negotiations were closed on behalf of the Victoria Immo Properties s.r.l..
https://leute.tagesspiegel.de/friedrichshain-kreuzberg/macher/2020/04/23/120484/immobilienfonds-setzt-buchhandlung-kisch-co-vor-die-tuer/

This news of the loss of our bookshop spread immediately, and the whole district was in an uproar. Despite the shutdown people were hanging banners into their windows and protested with mails and postcards, wrote to our district administration, the state administration and members of the government, seated in Berlin.

Our politicians wrote letters to the housing managing company and explained how important this bookshop was for the whole area. Even them got no responses. 

But as we soon as we adopted the news, that you, Ms. Rausing, and your family, might be involved, we were relieved. We found out, you were regularly active in projects for the common good, and also long-term publisher of socio-political and social science. Your magazine was even offered in this bookshop for years.

We knew, a lot of financial investments of private asserts go their own way over trustees and property administrations, without involvement of the equity owners. So this is our great hope: 
Can you exert your influence on the the Victoria Immo Properties s.r.l.?  
If so, can you support the bookshop Kisch & Co. to get a new lease contract on reasonable terms?
They really want to stay in this area for another 10 years and an affordable lease price. This will be a relief for Kisch & Co. and the residential population. If this is possible for you, we all celebrate a great literary festival, and you and your family will be invited.

Sincere regards, Connie Wagner
Member of the Union OraNostra for trade, craft, social and medical institutions, cultural enterprises in Kreuzberg


To show you the dismay of customers of the bookshop Kisch & Co we made small video recordings one afternoon for about three hours. People were really deeply worried. Here’ re the impressions.