Riga 94

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Rigaer 94, October 2020

The Rigaer 94 is a residential project in the Rigaer Straße 94 in Berlin-Friedrichshain that resulted from a squatting .

history

Memorial plaque for the resistance fighter against National Socialism, Ernst Pahnke, who once lived there

At the beginning of 1990, the then vacant building 94 on Rigaer Strasse was occupied, as were other houses in the area. After Mainzer Strasse was cleared in November 1990, the squatters began negotiations with the owner of the house, the municipal housing administration - after their restructuring as the Friedrichshain housing cooperative (WBF) - and the city of Berlin about legalizing the housing situation. As a result, regular rental contracts for residential units in the house were concluded in 1992 and the renovation of the house could begin. In 1994, the residents were asked to pay rent for the first time from January 1996 while construction was ongoing.

In 1997 the house was transferred to the Jewish Claims Conference and in 1999, together with other houses (Rigaer Strasse 95 and 96, Liebigstrasse 14 ) in Friedrichshain, it was acquired by two shareholders of Lila GbR and the construction of a block of flats for ecological living was announced. The residents resisted these plans. As a result, the rental contracts were terminated and the house was partially vacated, which was quickly followed by reoccupations by the residents. In 2002, the Senate of the time offered the residents an alternative property in the nearby Simplonstrasse , which the residents refused. In August 2003, a ruling by the regional court became final, according to which the rooms on the ground floor of the rear building, side wing and front building were to be surrendered to the owner. The evacuation was carried out, but the rooms were occupied again a short time later.

Disputes with the homeowner led to a number of measures such as the appointment of a security guard directly in the house. A little later it was withdrawn and parts of the house were reoccupied. Disputes and measures under police law such as evictions and searches were repeatedly accompanied by strong protests from the autonomous scene in Berlin. There were often arguments in front of the house or in the city district. In January 2012, 51 police officers were injured in rioting. When the rioters then fled to Rigaer Strasse 94, the police stormed the house. The residents contributed resistance with stones, pepper spray and a fire extinguisher.

In August 2013, 300 police officers searched two apartments at Rigaer Strasse 94 with the help of the special task force. They searched for evidence in connection with an attack on police officers in June 2013 with Molotov cocktails as well as property damage and arson at several job centers in Berlin. Among other things, Incendiary devices and pyrotechnic items confiscated. After years of disputes with the owner, the non-profit foundation Edith Maryon offered to buy the property and leave the building to the occupiers under heritable building rights for 99 years. However, the residents decided "to continue the fight and against pacification" and made structural changes such as the installation of heavy doors on the property, which were presumably designed to make it more difficult for the police to gain access.

Change of ownership in 2014

The building was sold again at the end of 2014. The new owner wanted to remain anonymous and was the London-based Lafone Investments Limited represented . Court documents from August 2020 revealed the two shareholders of Lafone Investments Limited as one person in Ukraine who holds 6% of the shares, and another company that is owned by a private citizen in Berlin via trust structures. He had chosen the complex construction to protect himself from attacks and threats such as those that had hit the previous owner.

Escalation in 2016

On January 13, 2016, the police carried out a house inspection late in the evening with reference to the general police clause § 17 paragraph 1 ASOG with 500 officers and the support of the SEK and a helicopter without a search warrant. The large-scale operation was triggered by an attack on a contact area officer who had punished parking violations at noon on the same day. According to the police, the attackers then withdrew into the house. The administrative lawyer Clemens Arzt and the PIRATE parliamentary group questioned the legality of this mission. In the following days the police carried out further house inspections according to ASOG and a house search in Rigaer Straße 94 and adjacent buildings. 5,000 people took part in a demonstration at the beginning of February, which among other things was directed against the police measures.

On June 22nd, 2016, the property management had parts of Rigaer Straße 94, including the “ trendy bar”, Kadterschmiede, cleared by construction workers. The evacuation was secured by a large contingent of police. In the days that followed, there were demonstrations, arson attacks on cars and property damage to new buildings. Local residents and residents accused the police and security services of harassing them by means of controls and of humiliating them by disregarding privacy. In addition, a family man was beaten for taking photos in front of his children. Members of the House of Representatives saw a connection with the election campaign. For example, Christopher Lauer accused Frank Henkel, Senator of the Interior, of “politically deliberate escalation” in order to distinguish himself in the election campaign.

On July 9, 2016, around 3,500 people demonstrated in solidarity with the Rigaer 94 and against the ongoing police presence. According to the police, it was the "most aggressive and violent demonstration in Berlin in the past five years". In media reports and according to statements from demonstration observers, the police's actions were described as brutal and escalating (“building up pressure”).

After a first hearing was canceled, on July 13, 2016 the Berlin Regional Court declared the partial eviction to be unlawful in a preliminary default judgment . The house owner had not submitted an eviction notice , had not hired a bailiff for the eviction and had not sent a representative to the court. The following day, the premises were handed over to the residents by a bailiff, the construction work was canceled and the continuous police operation ended. Then the situation calmed down. Eviction lawsuits filed in July 2016 against the club's rooms on the ground floor and an apartment in the front building were dismissed by the Berlin District Court in February 2017 and May 2018 due to unclear ownership and the resulting inability to litigate. Thereupon the alleged owner waived a continuation of the lawsuit.

As the conflict continued, calls for a “de-escalation strategy” grew louder. Monika Herrmann (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) finally initiated a round table on July 20, 2017, at which residents, representatives of the owners and members of the House of Representatives of the parliamentary groups of the SPD , Die Linke and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen took part. However, representatives of the police, the interior administration and the house project did not take part. In mid-August, the municipal housing association Degewo started negotiations with the owner to examine the possibility of buying or taking over management. Finance Senator Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen (SPD) stated that all possibilities for de-escalation must be used. The then Interior Senator Frank Henkel (CDU) and the CDU led by him vehemently criticized both discussions and a possible purchase of the house. This means "to reward left-wing radicals for riots, arson attacks and attacks on police officers with a house". A purchase offer submitted by DeGeWo in spring 2017 was rejected by the owner as being too low. According to Interior Senator Andreas Geisel (SPD), state ownership of the building is "a key issue to counteract acts of violence."

Since renovations in the house impaired escape routes prescribed by building law and the use of rescue workers, after 2016 officials made several demands to improve and check the fire protection situation in the house. In the course of this, Florian Schmidt (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen) was accused of actively preventing the opening of a procedure due to fire protection deficiencies. On February 11, 2021, the Berlin Administrative Court ruled that the fire protection expert had to be granted police protection, as in the past a property manager and a lawyer were attacked and injured by a group when entering the house.

Interior Secretary Torsten Akmann (SPD) stated that the area around Rigaer Strasse was particularly “shaped by criminal offenses and administrative offenses of the left-wing extremist scene”, which led to a considerable impairment of the residents' feeling of security. Because of the dispute over the radical left-wing symbol project “Rigaer 94” and the eviction action against the illegal bar “Kadterschmiede” located in it, “the commission of crimes in the area of ​​Rigaer Straße can still be expected”. In 2020 there were 717 police operations in the area of ​​Rigaer Straße 94, which led to several hundred investigations into various offenses.

Escalation in 2021

Another escalation occurred in June 2021 in connection with a fire protection inspection on behalf of owners, a fire protection inspection that had already been carried out by an expert and the district office was not recognized. A two-day meeting and parking ban was imposed on parts of the street. Roads in the area were largely blocked, a school and a day care center remained closed. On June 16, 2021, the day before the planned fire protection inspection, 200 hooded violent criminals erected barricades and set them on fire. They pelted the police with stones from the roof of the building. The police used water cannons and clearing tanks. 200 officers were involved in the operation, 65 were injured, according to the police.

On June 17, 2021, the police forcibly gave an appraiser access to the house. When the officers opened the first locked door with a chainsaw, the residents of Bengalo set fire to it . The police officers also opened a second door and also entered the building through the courtyard. They were pelted with paint bags by residents and sprayed with fire extinguishing agent. According to their own information, the police are deploying a total of more than 1,000 workers. Investigations into attempted manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and particularly grave breach of the peace were initiated. Vehicles parked in the vicinity were set on fire by rioters and various window panes were smashed.

Assessment of the protection of the constitution

The Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees Rigaer 94 as a “central institution of the violence-prone autonomous scene in Berlin.” Some of the residents and regular visitors to the pub in the building are “to be counted among the hard core of militant left-wing extremists .” According to a small request, this is the case from March 2016 to a group of around 30 to 40 people. Of the people reported in Rigaer Strasse in March 2016, a total of 78 crimes were committed between 2011 and March 2016, 28 of which were violent crimes with a focus on 2012 to 2014.

literature

  • Berit Schärf: Live against the current. A political way of life. In: Peter Niedermüller (Ed.): Seeing social hot spots ?: Possibilities and limits of the ethnological eye . Berlin sheets. Ethnographic and ethnological contributions, special issue 32/2004, pp. 46–58. Case study on gentrification , which, using the example of the house project Rigaer Straße 94, is intended to "show how displacement processes can affect people's lives and everyday lives." (P. 46)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rigaer Strasse 94 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1943, IV., P. 725. “Administrative Secretary E. Pahnke” (also under 1932/5501).
  2. ↑ Rigaer Strasse 94 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1943, IV., P. 725. "E (owner): (guest house owner) Ellen Merten, W15, Joachimsthaler Straße 27, 30 tenants lived in house 94" (* 1925/5551 / * house owner: industrialist Dr M. Glückstein from Cracow. Then * 1930/6027 /, 1933/4740 /, 1934/4456 / * Mrs. Merten is named as the house owner from Flatow.).
  3. ↑ Memorial book - Victims of the persecution of Jews under the Nazi tyranny in Germany 1933-1945 : Ella Merten, née Kariel, born on April 27, 1899 in Flatow (West Prussia), residing in Berlin (Charlottenburg), deported to May 3, 1941 Ravensbrück, concentration camp, in March 1942 to Bernburg ad Saale, killing center; Date of death: March 28, 1942, place of death: Killing center in Bernburg ad Saale.
  4. ↑ Politicians get a new house from Rigaer Strasse 94: move instead of eviction Berliner Zeitung, June 18, 2002
  5. ↑ House clearance - riots in Friedrichshain? BZ, September 4, 2002
  6. ↑ There are new lawsuits in the Rigaer Der Tagesspiegel, July 22, 2016
  7. ↑ Small question, Berlin House of Representatives, January 29, 2012 .
  8. ^ Police dissolve the demonstration in Kreuzberg , Welt Online, August 15, 2013
  9. ↑ How things could go on at Rigaer Straße 94 Der Tagesspiegel, July 20, 2016
  10. ↑ Who does Rigaer Straße 94 belong to? Der Tagesspiegel, July 17, 2016
  11. ↑ "Rigaer Strasse owners fail again with lawsuit" tagesspiegel.de of August 24, 2020
  12. ↑ Erik Peter: Visit to the house project Rigaer 94 in Berlin: "A political house". In: taz.de . January 21, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016 .
  13. ↑ https://www.parlament-berlin.de/ados/17/InnSichO/protokoll/iso17-071-wp.pdf p. 31
  14. ↑ What can the Berlin police do? In: rbb-online.de. May 4, 2014, accessed July 15, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Pirate faction Berlin: Open questions about the police operation at Rigaer Straße 94 ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated February 29, 2016, accessed July 15, 2016 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.piratenfraktion-berlin.de
  16. ↑ Henkel and Herrmann argue about the raid in the Rigaer. In: tagesspiegel.de. January 15, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016 .
  17. ^ Arson in revenge for raid on Rigaer Strasse. In: tagesspiegel.de. January 16, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016 .
  18. ↑ Police moved again to the Rigaer 94. In: tagesspiegel.de. January 17, 2016, accessed January 18, 2016 .
  19. ↑ Moritz Wichmann: Large demo for Berlin house project: Cheerleaders with garbage bags. In: taz.de . February 8, 2016, accessed September 6, 2016 .
  20. ↑ Interior Senator Henkel defends deployment in Rigaer Strasse. In: rbb-online.de. June 22, 2016. Retrieved July 5, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Andreas Kopietz: Rigaer Straße: How the urban warfare fuels the election campaign. In: Berliner Zeitung. June 30, 2016, accessed July 1, 2016 .
  22. ↑ dpa: Left-wing extremists call for a demo with a riot video. In: Berliner Morgenpost. July 7, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2016 .
  23. ↑ Tobias Heimbach: "Policemen check my ID when I come home". In: welt.de . June 28, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016 .
  24. ^ Christian Vooren: Berlin-Friedrichshain: Resident of Rigaer Strasse reports of police harassment. In: tagesspiegel.de . July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016 .
  25. ↑ Henkel and Müller argue about de-escalation. In: RBB Online. July 5, 2016, accessed August 21, 2016 .
  26. ↑ Rigaer Straße: Police: "Most violent demonstration in the last five years". In: tagesspiegel.de . Retrieved July 13, 2016 .
  27. ↑ Kemal Hür: Another violent confrontation between the autonomists and the police. In: deutschlandfunk.de. July 10, 2016, accessed October 31, 2016 .
  28. ↑ Boris Pofalla: The battle for Rigaer Strasse becomes a western. In: FAZ.net . July 20, 2016, accessed October 31, 2016 .
  29. ↑ Rigaer Straße 94: Partial eviction was illegal - left-wing autonomists win in court. In: Berliner Zeitung. July 13, 2016, accessed July 13, 2016 .
  30. ↑ Rigaer Straße: Partial evacuation of Berlin housing project unlawful. In: Zeit online, July 13, 2016, accessed on July 14, 2016.
  31. ↑ Press release of the Berlin Regional Court of July 13, 2016 Berlin Regional Court: Default judgment in favor of the association (PM 37/2016) , accessed on July 14, 2016
  32. ↑ U. Kraetzer, S. Pletl, A. Abel, J. Fahrun: Provisional end of the state of emergency . Berliner Zeitung, July 14, 2016
  33. ↑ Sebastian Puschner: Rigaer 94 - Frank Henkel does not want to talk. In: freitag.de. September 2, 2016, accessed September 6, 2016 .
  34. ↑ Manuela Heim: Future of Rigaer Strasse in Berlin: Unity about disagreement , taz, July 22, 2016.
  35. ^ Conflict in Berlin-Friedrichshain: There are new lawsuits in the Rigaer case. In: tagesspiegel.de . Retrieved September 14, 2016 .
  36. ↑ Erik Peter: Trial of the Berlin project Rigaer 94: “Kadterschmiede” is not cleared. In: taz.de . February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017 .
  37. ↑ Erik Peter: Trial of Rigaer Strasse 94 in Berlin: Occupation bar is allowed to stay. In: taz.de . May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018 .
  38. ↑ Erik Peter: eviction action Rigaer Straße 94: tragedy. Farce. Capitalism . In: The daily newspaper: taz . June 25, 2018, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed June 28, 2018]).
  39. ↑ Thomas Rogalla: Round table on Rigaer Straße: Herrmann: Solution without riot and police can work. In: berliner-zeitung.de. October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016 .
  40. ^ Thomas Rogalla, Jan Thomsen: Rigaer Straße: Round table - but without residents, police and interior senator Henkel. In: berliner-zeitung.de. October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016 .
  41. ↑ For further development see also: Sebastian Puschner: Rigaer 94 - Frank Henkel does not want to talk. In: freitag.de. September 2, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016 .
  42. ↑ Jens Anker: Degewo is negotiating the purchase of Rigaer Strasse 94. In: morgenpost.de. August 17, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016 .
  43. ↑ Berlin-Friedrichshain: Rumor about the purchase of the Riga 94 makes the CDU rage. In: tagesspiegel.de . Retrieved October 4, 2016 .
  44. ↑ Malene Gürgen: Rigaer94 in Berlin-Friedrichshain: Too expensive for the country. In: taz.de . July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 26, 2017 .
  45. ↑ Frederik Bombosch: Dialogue with Occupiers: The Reconciliation Program for Rigaer Strasse. In: berliner-zeitung.de. August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017 .
  46. ↑ Alexander Fröhlich: "Schmidt did not want to commit Rigaer 94 - and did Herrmann deceive the Interior Senator?" Daily mirror from October 1, 2020
  47. ↑ Rigaer94: City council is said to have prevented the implementation of fire protection . Article from September 29, 2020 in the berliner-zeitung.de portal , accessed on September 29, 2020
  48. ↑ Die Welt, Police Protection for Experts - Left-Wing Radical Scene Reacts , February 12, 2021
  49. ↑ Die Welt, partially occupied house "Rigaer 94" - 717 police operations in one year , February 19, 2021
  50. ↑ Erik Peter: Rigaer Straße 94 before a large-scale operation: fire protection inspection, the second. In: the daily newspaper . June 15, 2021, accessed June 18, 2021 .
  51. ↑ "The police are in the house" - More than 1000 officers at "Rigaer 94" are on duty. In: Die Welt , June 17, 2021.
  52. ^ New arguments about the occupied house in Berlin. In: Zeit Online , June 17, 2021.
  53. ↑ The world, the Greens and the Left do not want to speak of “left-wing extremist violence” - criticism from the FDP and CDU , accessed on 06/18/202
  54. ↑ Sebastian Erb: Large raid in left house projects. daily newspaper (taz), August 14, 2013
  55. ↑ Written question from MP Tom Schreiber (SPD) of February 24, 2016 (received by the House of Representatives on March 4, 2016) and answer "Left-wing extremism in Berlin - Activities of the Riga 94" , PDF file, accessed on July 26, 2016

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 '4.1 "  N , 13 ° 27' 28.8"  E