Berlin: Successful demo despite police violence

Press release of the Interkiezionale
Berlin, August 3, 2020

On Saturday august 1st, an angry and powerful demonstration took place under the motto “Get out of the defensive”. The demonstration was directed against the announced evictions of left-wing projects, such as Syndikat, Meuterei, Potse and Liebig34. It also wanted to send a signal against the shift to the right and the increasingly authoritarian state [1]. The demonstration of 3,000 people (count from 20:18) was attacked and dissolved by the police after a quarter of the demonstration route. Later, an angry spontaneous demonstration moved through Prenzlauer Berg, showing that the police could not stop the protests.

The Interkiezionale coalition of threatened projects and supporters considers the demonstration a success. True to the motto “Get out of the defensive”, the active participation of many soldiers made it possible to give the demonstration a resistant expression and not to let the police attacks take away the street. Instead, the demonstration drew attention to places of repression and brought their anger against the everyday structural violence by police and capital to the streets. Places such as the job centre, the SPD office or the luxury new building on Flughafenstraße were targeted. [Read More]

Berlin: Syndikat call out. Get off the defensive!

Demo August 1st – 20 o’clock – Herrfurthplatz, Berlin-Neukölln

Times have been rough not only since the coronavirus. The fascisation of society is progressing. The danger of socialism and the hatred of everything left is evoked like a prayer wheel. The horseshoe theory enjoys great popularity. Under the cloak of totalitarian theories and far from any facts, a constant equation of two supposedly equal extremes against a hallucinated bourgeois “middle” is pursued. This liberal-bourgeois equation of socialism and fascism has a certain tradition in Germany, as does the collaboration of this bourgeois “middle” with fascism in order to take action against socialism, or against everything they perceive as a socialist danger. This is also the case with their anti-feminism, another interface between the “bourgeois-conservative middle” and fascists, which aims to maintain the conservative ideas of their system of rule by maintaining the binary gender order and, to this end, tries to turn back the achievements of feminist movements.

Fascist terror attacks in Hanau and Halle, right-wing networks that organize & arm themselves, armed fascists in the state apparatus that prepare for a civil war, secret service and state involvement in the NSU that are kept under lock and key. This list could easily be extended. The fascist danger is real. [Read More]

Berlin: Call for the demonstration on the 1st of August in Neukölln

The new phase of evictions has started. Not, as expected, with the announced eviction of the Kiezkneipe (neighbourhood bar) Syndikat, but with an attack from the cops.
An attack that was masked as a raid, with the plan for it to turn into an eviction of parts of our house. It was coordinated with some disgusting figures representing the so-called owner, in order to gain control of a space that is a thorn in the eye of a pacified european metropolis. On the 9th of July and the days that followed, we defended ourselves and reduced their filthy plans to ashes – taking back the evicted flat, pushing out the cops and bureaucrats and regaining control of our house.

This would not have been possible without the common fight and solidarity that goes far beyond our little rebellious neighborhood. Numerous people participated in the spontaneous gatherings in front of the house and nightly demonstrations in the richer neighborhoods of Berlin. While some people were cooking for everyone, others took part in the 24/7 shifts around the house. Many things destroyed by the cops were reconstructed almost immediately and different groups claimed actions in solidarity with Rigaer94. Showing once again, that solidarity in all its forms is our strongest weapon against the coordinated attacks from the state on the movement and its upcoming attempts to evict our spaces in Berlin. [Read More]

Berlin: Renewed alarm at Rigaer94

Today july 13th, there are strong police forces, construction workers and securities in the area. Alarm, now it’s getting exciting! Mouth-to-mouth info:

It is now being decided whether the police will take responsibility for the Rigaer94 conflict, and carry out the eviction which began Thursday 7 july and will continue today. At 8 o’clock the so-called Lusche, the new dubious alleged property manager, arrived first. He and his lawyer Bernau wanted to gain access to the house by force, which failed because of the human chain in front of it. His physical attack was answered accordingly. Then immediately masses of cops arrived, who had already been in stand by in the neighborhood but avoided the street in front of Rigaer94. There are at least a hundred of them, if not two riot squads again in action. At the same time, construction workers and the security company arrived. The construction workers called on residents “one to one”. It was reported that some of them wear Combat18 tattoos. They and the cops had to register that there was a new, massive entrance door. So for the moment, the intrusion into the house was stopped. According to information obtained, the police command at the highest level, i.e. the police chief, is currently advising. Nothing will happen until they take responsibility. What happens then will bring clarity about the operation since Thursday. Was it a coup attempt by the middle level police or a well planned action by the political leadership in an attempt to make everything look like a coincidence. The lies will stop.

On the other hand, the anger against the attackers on our living together in solidarity is endless!
Prepare yourself for everything, friends, it is serious! [Read More]

Berlin: Rigaer94, they tried to bury us but forgot that we are the seeds

From friday till saturday evening securities were in front of our house, that does not have any of its front doors anymore. Yesterday morning, around 6:30 am the cops attempted to enter again our front-house block. The so-called “Hausverwalter” Torsten Luschnat arrived at 7 am in order to enter the 4th floor flat in front house of 94. Of course, there is still no owner of the house known but the cops and their commanders in the senate decided to trust the new company, that pretends they are legally allowed to enter. Luschnat Immobilien did not even follow any legal frame and attacked the flat in order to evict it. The attack started from the construction team secured by the cops, by trying to smash through a bricked up door attempting to injure people who were behind it. The people behind the barricades showed an active defense and managed to ruin these plans. Therefore, it was impossible for the workers to enter. They and the cops went to the attic and smashed a hole into the ground ending up in the next door appartment. Unfortunately for them, also the tenant who lives there, managed to keep them out of the flat. Because of the escalation, the cops, afraid of leaving the legal frame, were not willed to continue and stopped the procedure. After those failed attempts of entering our flats, the cops stood in front of our door with the security team. At the same time, the construction team started throwing all the stuff from the ground floor flat, that had been evicted on friday, to the trash. The security team and the workers started to use the toilet and kitchen of the flat. Actually, as soon as they realized that there is a contract still existing, with a person present being able to show it, the doors of the apartment were closed. To demonstrate their power, the cops, from time to time, decided to prevent people who are not registered to come inside. In the afternoon the cops left their position in front of our house. Before the demo arrived, the securities also left being secure by cops. Hundreds of solidary people joined the demonstration and gathered in front of our house until late in the night. [Read More]

Berlin: Rigaer94 raided. Another eviction attempt

Today at 07:00 in the morning, a hundred riot cops walked over the bicycle rack in the yard of Riga 93 to climb over the fence into our yard one by one. At the same time they occupied the roofs of our block. The cops, along with LKA 5 and 6, then gained access to apartments on the 3rd floor of the front building under the pretext of a search for forgery of documents and others. According to the press, they also searched an apartment on Karl-Marx-Allee.

Contrary to their usual procedure, they refrained from using a helicopter and made no attempt to penetrate the rear building so far. In the meantime, they led the worst traffic lawyer in town, Markus Bernau, around the front building, presumably with the intention of supporting him in legal actions against the apartments occupied there. Torsten Luschnat, who thinks he is our new property manager, also gained access to these apartments. The so-called owner company has already proved several times in court that they can’t really prove anything, not even their legality to take legal action against us. The previous court rulings have dismissed all claims. [Read More]

Berlin: 30 years Liebig 34 – We never stop!

The Liebig 34 will celebrate its 30th birthday at the beginning of July. Eviction titles, media hype and annoying cops don’t spoil these days. Viva la Liebig!
Thirty years ago, after the fall of the Wall, people from a wide variety of backgrounds flocked to East Berlin to take advantage of the chance offered by the unresolved chains of command and the unspeakable vacancy. Entire streets and blocks of houses were occupied, redesigned and filled with ideas and creativity. The streets of Friedrichshain were full of life and very practical solidarity. At one corner there was a discussion meeting, in the next open-air cinema and there food was cooked for the whole street.
In these hours also lies the origin of our collective, which entered the rooms of Liebigstraße 34 in July 1990 and thus made the beginning of this project. In the following years a lot changed: the squat became a feminist house project without cis men. Through hard work and years of struggle it was tried to create a shelter and to offer an alternative to the cis-sexist everyday life.
Now, 30 years later, is the project to end? [Read More]

Berlin: Attack the city of the rich. Defend the projects

The gentrification in Berlin continues incessantly, and with it displacement. Not only people but also spaces are affected: Spaces of the radical movement, open spaces, safer spaces for people affected by discrimination, non-commercial spaces, spaces of subculture, of political networking and spaces where people try to live concrete utopias.

One struggle – one fight
In recent years, spaces such as the Liebig14 house project, the youth centre Drugstore , the community space Friedel54, the wagon places DieselA & Sabot Garden, the O-Platz occupation and the occupied school in Ohlauer Straße have already disappeared.
But it does not stop there. Many other spaces are currently under threat. The youth centre Potse, the house project Liebig34 and the bar collective Syndikat & Meuterei expect an eviction before the end of the year. Other spaces such as the house project Rigaer94, the house project Köpi137, the community house Lause10/11 or the community garden Prachttomate face a similar threat in the near future.

No spaces – no movement
All of these are spaces that live and fight for a different Berlin: a Berlin in which we know our neighbours, in which we create our houses and our neighbourhood together and jointly determine how public space is used. A Berlin where there is room for self-chosen living concepts. A Berlin in which we can try out alternatives to the exploitative and oppressive relations of wage labour, care work, educational system and on the basis of rent and ownership. [Read More]

Berlin: Syndikat Stays! New eviction date on August 7th

! Assembly / Rally !
Sunday, 14.06. | 4 pm | in front of Syndikat (Weisestr. 56)
Current information, dates & material and space for exchange and ideas. And, of course, make it loud and clear: Syndikat Stays!
Whispered translation is organized.

Corona’s over!? – The Senate is starting evictions again…

Corona has been an up and down of emotions for us so far. After the very sudden shutdown and the fear of having to experience the first evacuation attempt on April 17th without a proper conclusion, the cancellation followed shortly before. Thereupon a long hangover, financial worries and the uncertainty whether we would ever be able to open again in any form. Then, last week, the rather surprising news of being able to open again under certain conditions. Unfortunately, the joy did not last long, because on our 2nd (semi-)open day, we received mail from Bossin, the bailiff of the high court, again: the second first eviction attempt is now scheduled for Friday, August 7th at 9 am. [Read More]

Berlin: Liebig34 invites to her own court case on Dorfplatz. Chaos instead of an action for eviction!

On 3 June ’20, the eviction of Liebig34 is to be heard in the high-security hall of the Tiergarten court. It is assumed that after two failed attempts, the verdict will be pronounced after all, making the eviction of the anarcha-queer feminist house project more likely. However, the collective does not want to accept this and will continue to resist. Because: The houses, those who need them!
In the past, there have been many attempts to condemn and criminalise our protest against the eviction of the threatened projects in court. They try to keep us small with repression and surveillance. We see this, for example, in the new classification of the Liebig34 collective as “left-wing extremist” by the constitutional dirt and the aggressive and provocative behaviour of the BPE cops day in, day out in the danger zones of this city.
Courts constantly decide FOR the winners AGAINST the marginalized and oppressed in this patriarchal, racist and capitalist system. We have no confidence in this unjust state, which protects fascist perpetrators and acts and decides according to the interests of capital. We stand against this system and never give in.
That is why we create our real version of the verdict and shit on eviction suits and do NOT go to Moabit to the court. We decide against an eviction and that alone counts.
Come on 03 June from 9:00 on the Dorfplatz in front of Liebigstraße34. First there will be spectacles, then brunch.
Also join the actions on June 2nd and show your solidarity with the projects threatened by eviction: decentralized and chaotic! [Read More]

Berlin: Let’s take the struggle into our hands again

A short call for the reopening of our structures.

Now that the arteries of the capitalist system are again pulsating in the rhythm of production and consumption, we find the re-opening of Kadterschmiede and other common spaces of the projects as important as mentioned in our previous text. [1]
During the “unofficial” lockdown people where pushed to continue going to work or companies found the alternative solution of home office to prevent a breakdown. For almost a month now the industry of education is open again. At the same time the public spaces are under constant attack to prevent political and social interactions.

In times when it’s mostly fascists who reclaim the public spheres and the cops try to control every corner of the city, our spaces cannot be kept closed any longer. [Read More]

Berlin: On the closure of Kadterschmiede and our handling of open spaces

Wednesday, March 25th

Our lawyer told us that he should pass on a telephone threat from the police to us. The content of the threat was that the cops would enter Rigaer94 if Kadterschmiede would not close officially. After a due to timepressure admittedly short discussion, we then announced on twitter and our website that we would not open that day.

Already at 8 p.m. there were about ten team cars of a cop unit in the next vicinity and at the Wedekindwache (cop station in the south of Friedrichshain) the technical unit provided heavy equipment. For a large part of the evening the area of Rigaer Strasse, between Zellestrasse and Dorfplatz, was occupied or sealed off by police. In front of our door the new BP-unit (Brennpunkt- und Präsenzeinheit /“Criminal Hotspot and Presence-Units“ [1]) was stationed again. The usual yellow press and massmedia had been informed and was present on the street from early on.

A few days earlier we had published and postered a text with the title “Self-organization in a state of emergency – Why we still consider open social spaces important”[2]. Though we still politically think it‘s the right thing to do, we took a shot in the dark in two aspects. Neither had we considered the reaction of our enemy in the form of the state, nor had we removed all the uncertainties among ourselves regarding hygiene issues. So, because of our lack of a wider discussion and analysis around the topic of opening our own space we also seemed unprepared for the repression on that Wednesday. We had fallen right into the trap we set ourselves, as we would not have been able to defend any decision we could have made collectively. [Read More]