Germany
ANSTOSS! E.V.
Founded in 2006, Anstoß! e.V formalised the organisation of the German team for the Homeless World Cup, which had previously been brought together by a group of streetpapers.
After receiving funding from Aktion Mensch between 2010-2013, Anstoß! e.V was able to build their national network for social football activities, which today is still the basis of the network of German street football.
As part of their main activities, Anstoß! e.V brings representation of social sport activities to the media and their official partners and club football. This includes the coordination of regional street-leagues, organisation of national championships, and HWC participation. Anstoß! e.V is also dedicated to developing new structures of social sports and collaborating with academic research and professional social work.
Anstoß! e.V works in cooperation with FC St. Pauli – Hamburg, with the club supporting street football activities in Hamburg, as well as supporting the German championship.
PARTICIPANTS
Men and women 16 years and older.
People affected by the various forms of homelessness, clients of drug help facilities, people living in refugee shelters, clients of probation centers and offender assistance, people living in social isolation.
LOCATIONS
Bavaria, mainly Nuremberg and Munic/ Hessen, mainly Wiesbaden/Niedesachsen, mainly Bremen and Oldenburg/ Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg, mainly Kiel and Hamburg.
Country statistics
7 out of 189 in Human Development Index rating (UNDP, 2022)
$54,800 Average annual salary per person (World Bank, 2023)
20.9% of the population were at risk of social exclusion or poverty (Destatis, 2023)
Germany, a country in Western Europe, has Europe’s largest economy and is the second most populated country in Europe following Russia (CIA World Factbook). 84.2 million people live in Germany, with 77.8% of people living in urban areas in the country. (Worldometers, 2025; CIA World Factbook, 2023).
As of 2023, 20.9% of the population were at risk of social exclusion or poverty, women over the age of 65 were the most likely to be at risk of facing poverty, while young people and children under 18 were the most at risk of being severely materially and socially deprived (Destatis, 2023).
Germany’s social welfare system has felt increasing pressure as there has been a large increase in immigration. The German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees saw a rise in almost 33% of asylum applications between 2023-2024, with the highest number of applications coming from people from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey. (Statistica)
Germany continues to receive the highest number of asylum applications in Europe with 22% of all applications in October 2024 (EUAA, 2024). An estimated 607,000 people were homeless in Germany in 2022, the majority of these (411,000) were non-German residents (Statistica, 2022).
The German Government released a Nation Action Plan in April 2024 to eliminate homelessness in the country by 2030. More affordable housing and Housing First is at the centre of the plan to tackle the ongoing barrier of unaffordable housing which leaves people in mass shelters for years.
The government is aiming to make 100,000 rent-controlled properties available a year. However they are already struggling to meet that target, which was introduced as part of an earlier stage of the policy, with only 22,000 made available in 2022 (DW, 2024).
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