"Then I'll just build us something." Ole Grigoleit's answer to the umpteenth flat rejection sounds brusque. But it's somehow understandable, because the countless viewings that he and his girlfriend Jill have been through in recent weeks have been frustrating. Just a moment ago, they were standing in the rain with 50 other applicants in front of a run-down brick building, taking a quick look at four completely overpriced walls and handing in their application portfolio.
And now again: rejection. Because even with a completed apprenticeship and degree - without a permanent employment contract, the two 26-year-olds have no chance on the crowded housing market in Hamburg's city centre.
But for Ole, his answer is by no means defiance, but rather a logical conclusion: If we can't rent anything, we'll just have to build something. "Do you want to buy a property or what?" Jill asks him, puzzled, "and with what money anyway?" But Ole is prepared for this question and pulls out his smartphone. He proudly presents an old steel hull with a wooden skeleton. "It's simple: I'm building us a houseboat."
What sounds like a crazy idea to any layman has long been ready for launch in the visionary's imagination. Because even if the trained ship mechanic doesn't have any great financial wealth at his disposal: His assets are the motivation to create something, two healthy arms and a boundless talent for improvisation....
