Institute for Comparative Irrelevance

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Exterior view of the institute building, February 2012

The Institute for Comparative Irrelevance (short: IvI or IVI ) was an autonomous center in Frankfurt am Main with supraregional importance for the left and radical left scene . It was operated from December 2003 in a previously vacant institute building "English Seminar and America Institute" ( Ferdinand Kramer , 1953–54) of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and had the motto "Theory, Practice, Party". The occupation was tolerated by the university management for many years, but ended after the building was sold to Franconofurt AG on April 22, 2013 by a police eviction.

Location and surroundings

The Institute for Comparative Irrelevance was located at Kettenhofweg  130 and was directly on the Senckenberganlage . It is thus located between the Bockenheim campus of the Goethe University and the Westend district , which was the scene of the so-called “ Frankfurt house-to-house war ” in the 1960s . The Senckenberg Museum and the Institute for Social Research are in the immediate vicinity .

history

Student protests and founding

In the course of the student strike in 1997 , the so-called “Working Group French Relations” was founded. In the 2001/2002 winter semester, students from this group discussed the unsustainable study conditions at Frankfurt University. Their activities resulted in a temporary occupation of a university building in January 2002. In this the Institute for Comparative Irrelevance was founded. This first occupation took place in a building at Georg-Voigt-Straße 4. The IvI was officially opened on January 21, 2002.

In a first statement, the squatters formulated their motives as follows:

“Living together, living together and learning are the prerequisites for changing the prevailing conditions. we design the university according to our ideas and open up a space for research and celebration in this former institute. With this action we are taking back the space that is becoming increasingly scarce and destroyed. we challenge all irrelevant students. professors and residents of the district to support us, to participate with discussions, our own events, etc. - and not to function as the practical constraints demand of them. "

- Self-portrayal 2002

After the one-week occupation of the institute, another only temporary summer camp followed in June 2002 on the so-called IG-Farben campus of the University of Frankfurt. After this tent camp ended, the IvI remained without a permanent location for several months.

Occupation of the building on Kettenhofweg

In the course of the 2003 university strike, following a general meeting of students at the University of Frankfurt on December 3, 2003, the former, then vacant Institute for English and American Studies at 130 Kettenhofweg was occupied. Because the Frankfurt broadcaster Radio-X did not report on this, a group of students occupied the broadcaster for a short period of time in order to protest against “this behavior that was perceived as a lack of solidarity”.

The building was built in 1953 as part of the restructuring and expansion of the Bockenheim campus of the Goethe University. Like other buildings at the university, it was designed by the architect Ferdinand Kramer and built under his direction as the university’s building director. It was in 1954 awarded by the State of Hesse as a model building and stands today as a monument of culture due to the Hessian Monument Protection Act under monument protection . The building is at the western end of the Kettenhofweg . In 2001 the university cleared the building when it moved to the newly created Westend campus .

Exterior view of the institute building, April 2007

After the institute was able to remain in existence for the next two years "in mutual agreement" with the then Chancellor of the university, Wolfgang Busch, the building was offered for sale by the university in the Frankfurter Rundschau in September 2005.

In March 2006 IvI was assured by the university that it would be able to use the rooms until the end of the 2006 summer semester; for the time after the building was sold, the university did not want to provide any alternative space. In return, the IvI agreed to vacate the building after a reasonable lead time. The use of the building by the occupiers was tolerated by the university for several years before a buyer could be found.

Sale of the building

In 2009, the property management tried to sell the building. However, this attempt was initially unsuccessful due to the existing monument protection . In February 2012, the university announced that it had found a buyer. The sales proceeds are intended to close a financing gap of around one million euros, which is required for the construction of the new seminar building on the Westend campus . University President Werner Müller-Esterl stated on February 22, 2012 that there was no obligation to talk to the squatters who were using the building in an illegal manner before the sale. You would be informed about the changes made by the university afterwards.

The General Student Committee of the Goethe University criticized the conduct of the rectorate in a press release as a "scandal" and called for the continuation of the institute to be ensured. The university reported neither the buyer nor the purchase price. The AStA explicitly demanded that there must continue to be a place where Frankfurt students could work independently and scientifically in the tradition of critical theory .

On March 5, 2012, the buyer of the building was announced in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Franconofurt AG, a real estate company from Frankfurt.

At the end of May 2012, Franconofurt AG employees gained access to the building in order to cut off the electricity and water supply. They filmed some of the residents and removed the front door. The residents refused to vacate the building. They were supported by 2,200 people who signed a petition to this effect. They are also supported by around 100 scientists and artists, including the Frankfurt philosopher Axel Honneth and the education professor Micha Brumlik , who said: "Such places are islands in which it is demonstrated that there is another way."

eviction

On June 18, 2012, Franconofurt AG announced to hr-info that they had brought an eviction claim and that they wanted an evacuation as quickly as possible. In the Frankfurt city council, the IvI was supported by the Pirate Party and the SPD. The CDU showed understanding for the legal steps taken by the new building owner.

The eviction action of the new owner was filed against the GbR Institute for Comparative Irrelevance . Because the IvI does not consider itself a legal entity, it was not present during the trial, and on February 15, 2013, an eviction notice was obtained based on a default judgment . After the default judgment was issued, the political scientist Joachim Hirsch applied to the regional court to be allowed to join the defendant GbR as an intervener . Until this application was decided, the default judgment could not become final. On April 19, 2013, this application was rejected and the eviction was carried out on April 22, 2013. As a result of the eviction, demonstrations and riots broke out in Frankfurt, during which university buildings were damaged and property damage of over € 100,000 resulted.

Events

Lectures

In the Institute for Comparative Irrelevance, lectures, seminars and workshops on various topics were held regularly. International speakers included presentations from Jack Halberstam , David Harvey , John Holloway , Peter Marcuse and Paolo Virno . In addition, the following people have given lectures in recent years: Bini Adamczak , Peter Bierl , Karl Bruckmaier , Micha Brumlik , Martin Büsser , Alex Demirović , Thomas Frickel , Joachim Hirsch , Andrej Holm , Rahel Jaeggi , Daniel Kulla , Roswitha Scholz , Volkmar Sigusch , Gerhard Stapelfeldt and Klaus Walter .

Concerts

Concert events by solo artists and bands were an integral part of the cultural program of the IvI. Above all, non-commercial acts were given the opportunity to present their works to a large audience. In particular, electro-punk bands, for example from the Audiolith label environment such as Egotronic , Frittenbude or Plemo , performed frequently in the IvI.

The following artists also appeared at IvI: Adolar , Bondage Fairies , Busdriver , Istari Lasterfahrer , Mikrokosmos23 , Schlagzeiln , Sookee and Ted Gaier .

Due to disputes with their landlord, Hazelwood Studios was unable to host their annual Hazelwoodstock festival in January 2012 on their actual premises. In addition to the student “Café KoZ” on the Bockenheim university campus, the IvI was also used as an alternative location.

Congresses and "counter-university"

“While the universities cheerfully promote the abolition of the spirit, it is up to everyone to explore the 'place' in which we 'withdraw into freedom' (Hegel), that of thinking, in order to find out how and where social criticism is is currently possible. "

- from the program of the first Gegen-Uni 2005

An integral part of the annual program was the so-called “counter-university” that took place twice a year and dealt with topics such as feminism , naturalization , sexuality and cultural theories. The aim of these mostly one to two-week events was to pursue the institute's claim to continue to pursue critical science that is increasingly being displaced within academic operations. Self-organized reading groups, lectures and seminars take place in line with the motto “Critical thinking needs time and space”.

In addition to the "Gegen-Uni", there were also congresses and symposia at the IvI:

In 2010 the anniversary congress of the German Society for Sociology (DGS) took place at the Goethe University. A counter-symposium called "Access Denied" was held at the IvI, the aim of which was to "take up the level of socio-theoretical reflection reached by critical theory and the self-reflection of 'scientific' work and to take an independent, critical look at the development of sociology" .

In addition, events and congresses of self-organized student groups or political grassroots initiatives took place in the IvI, for example the autumn congress of the Federal Working Group of Critical Jurassic Groups in 2010 , the Medinetz federal meeting in 2011 and the “Art - Knowledge - Problem” conference in June 2012.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anne Lemhöfer: Theory, Practice, Party. The tradition of teach-in lives on in the IvI . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. April 30, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ a b Anna Sauerbrey : Students do not give up - but solidarity is waning . In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. December 3, 2003. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  3. ^ The Institute for Comparative Irrelevance ( Memento of August 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) . In: arte.tv. January 11, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2012 (announcement regarding a feature on TRACKS, which aired on Thursday, January 11, 2007 at 11:20 pm and on Tuesday, January 16 at 1:30 am).
  4. ↑ Students occupy former university building. House warfare in Frankfurt . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , July 8, 2012. Accessed July 8, 2012.
  5. ↑ a b IvI Institute vacated. The (provisional) end of irrelevance ( memento from April 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . In: hr-online.de. April 22, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b c against the eternal return of the always same ... about the precarious situation of the Institute for Comparative Irrelevance (ivi) . In: copyriot.com. Without a date. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  7. ↑ a b raumspiel: Institute occupation in frankfurt! . In: Indymedia. January 21, 2002. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ rosie: tent camp at the university of frankfurt . In: Indymedia. June 10, 2002. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  9. ↑ the temporary occupation of the FM frequencies of radio x . In: copyriot.com. Without a date. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  10. ↑ Self-help group: IvI occupied Radio-X . In: Indymedia. December 6, 2003. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  11. ^ Supplementary booklet on the monument topography of the city of Frankfurt.
  12. ↑ a b c Rosalie Schnecke: IvI stays! - until further notice . In: Diskurs / cyriot.com. Without a date. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  13. ↑ The end of irrelevance
  14. ↑ Kim Behrend: The End of Irrelevance . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. February 6, 2009. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  15. ↑ Goethe University sells property in Westend ( memento from June 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . In: Frankfurt-Live.com. Press release from Goethe University of February 22, 2012. Accessed on February 23, 2012.
  16. ↑ AStA of the Goethe University Frankfurt: PM: Kettenhofweg 130 sold - scandalous communication behavior of the presidium ( Memento from July 21, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) . February 22, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  17. ↑ Karsten Hufer: Occupied university building. Eviction action against Irrelevanz-Institut  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hr-online.de   . In: hr-online.de. June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  18. ↑ [1]
  19. ↑ Hanning Voigts: Occupiers must evacuate IvI
  20. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: The IvI eviction is postponed
  21. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: IvI helper is defeated in court
  22. ↑ City of Frankfurt is considering providing rooms for Ivi. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 26, 2013, accessed on April 29, 2013 .
  23. ↑ Soli demo against IvI eviction - tens of thousands of euros in damage after riots. Frankfurter Rundschau, April 24, 2013, accessed on April 24, 2013 .
  24. ^ Maximum RocknRoll , # 331, San Francisco, December 2010; http://maximumrocknroll.com/
  25. ↑ Detlef Kinsler: Intact family. After fifteen years, the indie label Hazelwood has to look for new spaces . In: welt.de. January 23, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  26. ↑ 27.4. – 4.5 .: Gegen-Uni. University for everyone - for free! In: copyriot.com. Without a date. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  27. ^ Anke Petermann : Gegenuni in Frankfurt am Main. Studying at the Institute for Comparative Irrelevance . Broadcast on Deutschlandfunk on November 8, 2006. Accessed on February 23, 2012.
  28. ^ Katrin Brinkman: Celebrating with Foucault. Students organize counter-uni . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. October 25, 2007.
  29. ^ Inga Rahmsdorf : Students organize counter-university . In: Frankfurter Rundschau. November 3, 2006.
  30. ↑ Documented in the blog: http://accessdenied.blogsport.eu/ . Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  31. ↑ Last information about the congress . In: BAKJ Congress. November 2, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  32. ↑ Resolution proposal of the Medinetz federal meeting from 27. – 29. May 2011 (PDF; 11 kB) . Without a date. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  33. ↑ - ( Memento from August 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Retrieved on July 4, 2012

Coordinates: 50 ° 7 ′ 0.6 ″  N , 8 ° 39 ′ 11.6 ″  E