Berlin's Cold-Aid Buses Return for Winter with Two New Vehicles After Arson

Three cold-aid buses operated by the Berliner Stadtmission are making nightly rounds to help homeless people through the cold season until March 31. Two of the vehicles are entirely new: at the beginning of 2026, a man set fires, leaving two of the previous buses as total losses. Using donated funds, the Stadtmission was able to purchase and retrofit replacement vehicles. The new buses are fitted with electric wheelchair lifts, meaning people with limited mobility can now be taken to shelters — a gap in the previous service. The Red Cross warm bus is also back in operation for the same period, and in particularly cold spells additional buses can be mobilised. Teams distribute hot drinks, soup and sleeping bags, and offer rides to emergency shelters. The Stadtmission buses run daily from 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and can be reached at 030 690 333 690; the DRK warm bus operates every day from 6 p.m. to midnight on 030 600 300 1010. In the past season, cold-aid bus teams made contact with 3,783 people and brought 1,784 to a warm shelter — a figure the Stadtmission describes as rising. The DRK recorded 1,872 tip-offs last season, double the previous year's total, prompting its president Mario Czaja to warn that demand will be even greater this winter.