{"id":75399,"date":"2025-05-07T11:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T09:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=75399"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:24:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T16:24:36","slug":"hannovers-night-angel","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/after-dark\/hannovers-night-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannover\u2019s night angel: help while the city sleeps"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tAfter dark<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n Hannover\u2019s night angel: help while the city sleeps <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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An interview about night-time rounds through the city, encounters on the margins \u2013 and help that gets through.
\nBy Henrike Meyer<\/a> (text), Janek Stempel<\/a> (photos)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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It\u2019s 7 p.m. and the small attic flat<\/strong> is filled with the smell of tomato soup and freshly brewed tea. Martina stands at her two-ring hob, seasoning two big pots of soup with black cumin. \u2018Black cumin is anti-inflammatory,\u2019 she explains. \u2018That\u2019s why it\u2019s important for my homeless people \u2013 almost all of them have some kind of inflammation.\u2019 The tea is already waiting in Thermos flasks. Always two-thirds mint tea and one-third black tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At around 7.30 p.m., Martina gets ready for the night: the soup goes into a huge insulated pot, which is moved out of the way and put outside the front door. So do the tea flasks, disposable crockery and cutlery, a big bag of warm donated clothes and one of pastries. She also packs a first-aid kit, disposable gloves, face masks, small bottles of water and treats for the many dogs belonging to her homeless people. Martina carries the heavy soup pot and everything else down from the attic on her own, bit by bit. Most of the time nobody helps her. Not even when her neighbours notice her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once she\u2019s downstairs, the Tetris begins. Everything she needs for the night has to fit into two handcarts and a rucksack. But that\u2019s no problem for Martina. She has her routine, and everything has its place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 8 p.m., fully loaded, she sets off on foot. Her route takes her from the Lister Meile past Wei\u00dfekreuzplatz and the Pavillon. Her destination: the main station. That\u2019s where she has most to do \u2013 and where, as every night, people are already waiting for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what drives her? How does she manage to devote her whole life to helping homeless people? And where does she find the strength to go out every single night and witness so much suffering?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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