By Sara Orlos Fernandes
They hang from light poles and advertise the purchase of vehicles. A flood of these illegal billboard advertising by car dealers is currently causing problems for the districts. It is difficult to determine who is responsible for this. According to BZ research, a trail leads to the Potsdam area.
The colorful posters are reminiscent of dealer business cards that are often stuck behind car windows. They differ in design and color from district to district, but they have one thing in common: at the end, the only information about the provider is a cell phone number.
BZ contacted one of the numbers and arranged to meet one of the car buyers. Meeting point: an industrial area at Rehbrücke train station in Nuthetal (Potsdam-Mittelmark). A warehouse is signposted on site with “Autoankauf Potsdam”.
One of the car dealers wanted to meet the BZ reporters at this truck stop near Potsdam Photo: Thomas Spikermann
However, the interested party does not show up for the appointment. We confront his supposed boss about the posters on the phone, but he insists: “I don’t know anything about it. I didn’t know that I was advertising in Berlin.”
The district offices also have difficulties in finding the originators of the unauthorized posters. “The mobile phone numbers given there are registered to people who are not recorded in the population register,” says Reinickendorf.
An illegal poster hangs in Neukölln near Silbersteinstrasse Photo: Sara Orlos Fernandes
“The districts should exchange information with each other to find the culprit. The fact that this has apparently not happened so far is stunned,” says Sascha Lawrenz (33, CDU)..
► Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf has already seized 576 posters. In Treptow-Köpenick there have been around 250 so far. Many districts can’t keep up with hanging out.
After extensive investigations, the district office of Pankow was able to locate a company that owns a cell phone number. Administrative offense proceedings have been initiated. That gives hope to the other districts.