After the coronavirus lockdown eased, Hinz&Kunzt vendors were looking forward to the restart, but also feeling slightly uneasy. They’ll need help – from Hinz&Kunzt, but also from the people working in the shops outside which they have their pitches. The Hamburg street paper accompanied vendor Thomas to his pitch.

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Hamburg-based street paper Hinz&Kunzt asked its vendors how severely they have been impacted by its effects.

The coronavirus pandemic has emptied Hamburg Airport. For those working for ‘Spende Dein Pfand’, a collaboration between the Hamburg street paper Hinz&Kunzt, Hamburg Airport and the Green Dot, that means reduced working hours. The street paper talked to employee Uwe Tröger about how he’s coping.

This year we asked vendors: if you could give a song as a present this Christmas, what would you choose? The result was the INSP Vendor Playlist, which is now available for your listening pleasure. Hinz&Kunzt vendor Jörg wants to share the work of his favourite band, Unheilig, with the rest of the world.

Ewa, 51, sells Hinz&Kunzt at her pitch in front of the Douglas perfume shop on Mönckebergstraße, Hamburg. Earlier this year, she worked in the KunztKüche, where her hard work and dedication were noticed by her co-workers and, in May, she was the winner of the ‘Mit dir geht mehr’ (You make our city better) campaign. Hinz&Kunzt met up with Ewa, who has high hopes for the future and who has done so much to support others in her community.

The Global Street Paper Summit is an opportunity to focus in on a lot of the amazing work being done by street papers. However, that doesn’t mean that the problems affecting their vendors are overlooked. In Germany, the number of violent attacks on homeless people – arson, assault, rape – is increasing. Figures released by the German Federal Criminal Police Office [Bundeskriminalamt: BKA] show that, year on year, the number of attacks is continuing to grow. Hinz&Kunzt examined the reasons why such violence is on the rise and asks what can be done to stop it.

Petra, 55, sells Hinz&Kunzt in front of the Edeka supermarket in the Winterhude quarter of Hamburg, often in the company of her dog, Luna. Here, Petra talks about the friendly relationships that she has with many of her customers and talks about what life has been like since she became homeless three years ago. One day, she hopes to have a place of her own that she can call home.

Holger (53) sells Hinz&Kunzt at the Isemarket in Hamburg Eppendorf. Here, he looks back on his earlier life, which was turned upside down in the 1980s when he worked at a shop selling stolen goods and was blackmailed by his physically abusive boss. The support of friends on the street led him to Hinz&Kunst 20 years ago; now, his life is full of hope – and love.

Olaf S died on a park bench close to St Michael’s Church, Hamburg. He was homeless and had braved sleeping out in the elements on a night when the temperature dropped below freezing. Two of his old friends, in collaboration with German street magazine Hinz&Kunzt, try to understand the circumstances of Olaf’s tragic decline.

German street paper Hinz&Kunzt turns 25 this year and, to celebrate, its team of staff and vendors are opening a pop-restaurant, Kunzt Kitchen, which will serve meals rustled up by some of Hamburg’s best chefs.

Constantin (60) is a vendor for Hinz&Kunzt at the REWE-Center in Dorotheenstraße. After losing his home and his family in his native country of Romania, he travelled to Germany looking for work. After finding himself sleeping rough, he turned to the German street paper for help.

For Hinz&Kunzt vendor Peter, the Kiez area was his home. After his death, his colleagues, friends and neighbours honoured him with a funeral march through St. Pauli. The tour ended in the pub called Silbersack – so did Peter’s sales tours in the past.

Gerald is a Hinz&Kunzt vendor who sells the magazine from his pitch in front of the Haspa Spitalerstraße in Hamburg. He tells us about his difficult childhood, years spent in prison and his dreams of becoming a chef.

Raitis (60) sells Hinz & Kunzt in front of German supermarket Edeka on Stresemannallee, Hamburg.

Alexandra used to work as a street musician, travelling between Hamburg and Romania. Now she sells Hinz&Kunzt, and sees her future in Hamburg: she proudly explains that her daughter can already speak very good German.

Ten years ago, after the collapse of his marriage, Peter became homeless. “I deliberately wanted to destroy myself,” he says. Peter’s story is one filled with loss, but thanks to Hinz&Kunzt, he now has a “brighter future”.

Hamburg street paper Hinz&Kunzt has hit out against a top local government official who wants to clear homeless people out of the city’s Central Station.

Originally from Romania, Ion knows the waterways of Europe like the back of his hand, from years working on boats. He left his homeland due to corruption and heartbreak – but has found support in Germany from Hinz&Kunzt.