Rising rents and a lack of social housing are contributing to homelessness in the German capital. Adapting means disappearing ‘like a little grey mouse’ in the city’s crevices. One of the first things you need to survive on the streets is a “bunker”, says Klaus. In this bunker you can hide your possessions during the day, he explains. It could be a hole in the ground or among the bushes, it doesn’t matter really – the key thing is that absolutely no-one knows where it is. Possessions stashed, he could spend the day collecting bottles. Klaus, who speaks eloquently in fast colloquial German, is a slight man, with chunky walking boots that look heavy on his legs. He used to walk a set route in central Berlin targeting busy areas like Checkpoint Charlie where tourists, unaware of Berlin’s “pfand” recycling system, would leave accidental tokens of survival in the city’s bins. “Two bottles were a bread roll,” says Klaus. But the trade was unpredictable – and often competitive. Some days after a 6am start he would be done by midday. Others he would make only enough to cover the alcohol he needed, and would have to visit a soup kitchen…