Association in the making · Gera
Nobody is coming to save us.
So we'll do it ourselves.
Empty buildings, dark windows, plans that vanish into drawers. Gera.Jetzt (Save Gera) brings together the people who won't accept that any longer. Every project starts with the same question: Who's in?
Projects
One project at a time. Each gets its own page, its own counter and its own committee. Things start once enough people are in.
– are in
Stage 1 of 5Proposed
Sorge 23–27 · empty since 2003
The old Tietz department store. If everyone in Gera chips in €65 once, it belongs to all of us. First goal: the door opens, 24/7.
– are in
Stage 1 of 5Proposed
At the Hofwiesen · closed since 2005
Opened in 1924, 5,000 swimmers on hot days, no outdoor pool in town since 2005. If everyone in Gera chips in €45 once, we'll swim again.
Up next
For example: a better process at the H35. Not a building, but an everyday thing that costs time and nerves. Anything is possible, we choose together.
You need an account to make a proposal, so that every proposal comes from a real person. Sign in and off you go.
Encouragement
No fairy tales. Real places, real people, real money. All over Germany, people stopped waiting and paid for it, built it and ran it themselves. And with every story we do the maths: what does it mean for Gera?
Gaggenau · 202430,000 inhabitants, a department store in the middle of town. The citizens said: then we'll buy it ourselves.
What it means for GeraAs many people as in Gaggenau would raise about €2.9m in Gera. That's half the Tietz building.
Berlin-Köpenick · 2008–2013The league demanded a renovation, the club had no money. So the fans picked up helmets and shovels, and later their wallets.
What it means for GeraWhat just over 4,000 Union fans paid for shares is almost half the Tietz building.
Hamburg · 2025FC St. Pauli didn't want a major investor. So the fans became the owners themselves.
What it means for GeraA fifth of that sum would pay for the Tietz building. That would be about 4,500 people.
Schönau · 1997Everyone thought it was crazy. A small town of 2,500 inhabitants took on an energy giant and won.
What it means for GeraA place 36 times smaller than Gera managed half the Tietz building.
Kösingen · 2021The renovation cost 2.4 million. The support association collected money and pitched in itself.
What it means for GeraThe people carried about 15% themselves. Their €70,000 in donations would be a good 1,000 shares at €65 in Gera.
Here are a few more, so nobody thinks it's a coincidence:
Always the same pattern: someone starts. Others join in.
In 2021 the Tietz building was offered to the city for 5.8 million euros. Sounds like a lot. But Gaggenau, Köpenick and Schönau each raised almost half of that, with far fewer people than live in Gera.
At €65 per share, the Tietz building needs around 89,000 shares. Gera has over 90,000 inhabitants. On paper, one share per person is enough.
And as Köpenick shows: the bank and public funding bring the rest once it's clear that the city stands behind it.
Honest question
Instead of empty houses and dark windows: places where you meet friends and say: this is my city. Nobody has to come from outside first.
You don't learn from the newspaper what happens to your place. You propose, you vote, and what is decided belongs to all of us.
You meet neighbours who are also tired of just complaining. Together you can do more than anyone thinks possible alone.
Your window lights up, you collect points, and later your name goes on the roll of honour. You can join without money too, by just pitching in. One day you'll say: I was there.
Sign in first. Create an account, it costs nothing. Only with an account does your “I'm in” count, do you collect points and can you help decide.
One place, one question. Every project starts with a page and a question: are you in? Nobody pays anything today.
Enough people. Every “I'm in” lights up a window. Only once enough people give their word do we move on.
Set up properly. We only collect money once the association exists and everything is legally sound. With a notary or a cooperative.
Decide together. What happens to a place, we propose and vote on together. Whatever is left over goes into the next project.
Everyone who joins in collects points, and not only for money: also for pitching in, for time and ideas, for photos and memories, for bringing friends. Points come with an account.
Whoever puts in the most gets rewarded. We are not a welfare club: whoever moves Gera forward should get something out of it. What exactly, we decide together in the association.
And everyone goes on the roll of honour. Whoever was part of it will later be on it by name, forever in Gera's hands. So it never stays closed for 23 years again, and future generations can enjoy it too.
The association
Our clubhouse is the internet. In 2026 nobody wants to sit in a back room any more. We meet online, by video and chat, and decide and vote here. It is faster and easier for everyone, and we have 23 years to catch up on. We keep building the site for exactly that.
Gera.Jetzt is meant to become a non-profit association. It makes vacancy visible, cleans up, paints, plants, celebrates on the Sorge and puts pressure on the city and owners.
Our return is a good life in Gera. Of course a project can make money if it goes well, precisely because we don't have to take on debt. But not a single euro goes to investors or shareholders. Every surplus goes into the next project. And the one after that. Until Gera is the city of our dreams.
–
of 7 founding members have signed up
Who started this doesn't matter. An association lives from many. We're looking for people who think the same way: who don't want to watch Gera stay dark any longer. Craftsman, student, pensioner or newcomer. Everyone brings something: time, ideas, hands, contacts.
Right now this is all still dreaming. Buying an empty department store, building an outdoor pool ourselves, with an association that doesn't exist yet. That's naive, we know. But every project starts with people who simply give it a try.
It's 2026. Nobody stands on the market square with a megaphone. The internet is where we find each other and join forces. Send this page to your family, your friends and your old classmates.
„There is nothing good, except: do it.“
