BERLIN – Ranging in age from 55 to 96, a group of fed-up German retirees may be the world's oldest squatters.

They have occupied their local seniors' center in Berlin-Pankow, a formerly Communist district of the German capital, since local officials announced it would be shut by early July.

With its intermittent hot water and creaking hardwood floors, the villa -- which was used by East German Stasi spies during the Cold War -- is not the most comfortable place to stay overnight. 

The protesters had planned to stay for only a few nights hoping for a quick offer by the city. The group’s 72-year-old leader Doris Syrbe admits that they were unprepared at the beginning.

"We didn’t know what to expect," Syrby told NBC News. "All of us were citizens of East Germany, where it wasn’t routine to get up on the barricades. And even now, politicians tell us that we are operating out of limits."

Before the action started, the center was a place to get together and do exercise, play chess and even celebrate momentous occasions such as one couple’s 50-year wedding anniversary.

The demonstrators are afraid that the building will be sold off and torn down to make room for more of the high-rent houses that already dominate the neighborhood, and their community split up with members sent to different locations.

Carlo Angerer / NBC News

Doris Syrbe, 72, leads a group of retirees struggling to keep open a community center in Berlin.

And worried that the city would lock them out, the retirees decided to occupy the house. More than a month later, they remain.

A retired teacher's courageous crusade: Tackling neo-Nazi hate

Now big posters draped on the street-front fence declare "Hands off!" and "This house is occupied," reminiscent of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

'Just don't get sick'
At least seven of the retirees representing the center's 300 regular users have stayed every night since the end of June, sleeping on old mattresses, camping beds and sun loungers. 

But after a couple of weeks they have become highly organized with plans for when a person can spend a night at home once a week or at what time newspaper reporters and camera teams can visit.The elderly squatters have enjoyed widespread support from neighbors, political activists, local media and their families. "They are proud of us and tell us to hang in there, just don't get sick," one of the occupiers said.

With no acceptable offer by the city in sight, Syrbe said the occupiers are now in for the long haul. "We want to stay together," she said. "The city has not even been able to find room for all of our groups."

From Cold Warriors to targeting trafficking: US military shifts focus in Europe

City officials say they can no longer afford the annual operating costs of about $73,000 and an imminent renovation which would cost more than $3 million. The retirees counter that those estimates are artificially inflated and say the community center is vital to its 300 visitors, many of whom get a pension that barely covers the cost of living in Berlin.

To make ends meet and to finance at least a short vacation with his wife, 71-year-old occupier Peter Klotsche says he has to work for two days a week on tourist buses. He says that after working and paying taxes for decades, the retirees should get at least something in return.

'Forest Boy' mystery solved: Man admits lies over identity

"We don’t want to be ignored and sit at home in front of the television all the time," Klotsche said adding that the building is the only place for many to stay active and have a vital social life at an old age. "Life doesn’t stop with retirement."

Carlo Angerer / NBC News

Peter Klotsche, 71, says that after working and paying taxes for decades, retirees like him should get something in return.

But a solution seems out of sight after the city cut the telephone lines and even sent a worker in the early morning hours to change the locks to the basement, which barred access to its gym. The seniors complain that there is little communication from the city.

Bye, bye, GI: Deep impact for many Germans as US troop downsize

Local politician Lioba Zürn-Kasztantowicz, who announced the center's closure, told NBC News that the city hardly has a choice due to budget pressures.

"The money just isn’t there anymore," she said. "There is less and less wiggle room, when it comes to voluntary social services."

More stories from Germany on NBCNews.com

Zürn-Kaztantowicz said that there are no current plans to clear the squatters from the site. "But I can’t say if that decision will hold," she added.

The squatters say they will remain in the building until the city promises to keep the center open or a substitute building that could house their community is found.

More world stories from NBC News:

• Race to London's Olympic Park: Fastest way is ...?
• Interpol drops 'red notice' for dissident
• Journalist: British militants took me hostage in Syria
• At Hiroshima memorial, Japan leaders vow to listen
• Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world
• Canada lobster fishermen lash out at cheaper US exports
• Slideshow: The lives of Syria rebels fighting for freedom

/

Beryl Renwick and Betty Smith with Simon Reeves attend the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2012 recognizing national and regional radio stations at Grosvenor House in London, Monday night.

LONDON - In the entertainment world, youth and celebrity are usually the key to success…but a pair of radio hosts with a combined age of 176 have been awarded top prize at an industry ceremony in Britain.

Beryl Renwick, 86, and Betty Smith, 90, were named Britain’s best radio entertainment hosts at the Sony Radio Academy Awards on Monday night.

Their weekly broadcast on local Yorkshire station BBC Radio Humberside has been going for six years and gathered a cult following.

Full story: ITV News

The elderly pair chat with co-host David Reeves about fashion, the war and their love of Michael Buble.

The judges said they were: “A joyous, entertaining double act. They give a voice to a sector of society unrepresented on radio, and do it with a joy that puts many of their fellow broadcasters to shame.

You can see the pair discuss their nomination in this BBC website video from April.

ITV News is the British broadcast partner of NBC.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• Iran hangs ‘Israel spy’ over nuclear scientist killing
• EU forces attack Somali pirates on land for first time
• Hipsters to the rescue? UK celebrity venue in spat with auto firm Jaguar
• Exit Sarkozy, enter Hollande: Socialist sworn in as French president
• Vatican allows mobster to be exhumed as cops seek clues in teen's disappearance
• Mexico's drug war: No sign of 'light at the end of the tunnel'

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world