Skinheads in Germany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Two skinheads on one Oi! -Concert

This article gives an overview of the development of the skinhead - youth culture in Germany .

Developments until 1990

Federal Republic of Germany

1977/1978, shortly after the rise of punk in Germany , the first skinheads appeared in Germany. Little is known about the time before. From around 1980/81 one could speak of a larger scene, which formed mainly in West Berlin , Hamburg , Lübeck , Nuremberg , Frankfurt am Main , Ludwigshafen am Rhein and in the Ruhr area . At the time, material on the scene was available from Great Britain. The clothes were imported into army shops or directly from Great Britain. Overall, the Oi! , a music genre of British skinheads of the 1970s that emerged from punk , as a formative music genre, even if there were some ska or 2-tone followers (which were thus closer to the music of the first skinhead wave of the 1960s), and one lively soul scene around the British band The Redskins .

With the exception of a few punk bands such as Daily Terror and OHL , which dealt openly with the skinheads, and a few skinhead bands such as the Böhsen Onkelz , the young skin scene had no musical groups of its own. It wasn't until 1982 that a few underground bands such as Vortex , Herbärds , Boots & Braces and Die Alliierten formed .

At the beginning, the German skinhead scene was politically very diffuse, but clearly conservative and proletarian. In particular, punks who could not do anything with politicization to the left became skinheads. The scene initially defined itself as "apolitical". In contrast to Great Britain, the German skinheads were seldom from the working class, which hardly existed in Germany, nevertheless they resorted to the corresponding symbolism. Right from the start, the skinheads attached importance to a martial, violent image. Alcohol consumption and brawls determined the usual outward appearance. In addition to the hippies , the punks in particular emerged as the enemy .

In 1983 parts of the skinhead and punk scenes finally merged, while a large part of the skinhead scene tended clearly to the right.

Right-wing extremist tendencies until 1990

Right-wing extremist skinhead at a demonstration

When the skinhead subculture came to Germany in the late 1970s / early 1980s, there was already a split in the skinhead scene in Great Britain. After the first non-political groups, a right-wing extremist scene established itself around bands such as the Böhsen Onkelz from Frankfurt / Main, Endstufe from Bremen and Kraft durch Froide from Berlin , which initially sought connection to the hooligan scene. They replaced the so-called “ cowl wearers”, the first generation of violent football fans. In strongholds like Bremen, the hard core consisted of up to 150 skinheads, who caused unrest during and after the game. Xenophobia was an integral part of the scene from an early age, even if there was no real worldview or serious politicization behind it. The first attempts at appropriation by political umbrella organizations therefore initially failed. Only hooligan groups like the Borussian Front succeeded in combining individual skinhead groups into organized groups like the "Savage Army". The first publicity campaigns such as the call to "fight against the Kanacken [sic!]" On the occasion of an international match between Germany and Turkey in October 1983 contributed to the creation of myths about the still new scene. This first generation was quickly replaced by so-called "fashion skins", which imitated the outfit of mostly older skinheads. National Socialist slogans were chanted or the Hitler salute was shown as a provocation . The older skinheads were skeptical of the new scene, and sometimes there were fights in their own fan blocks. Shortly afterwards, the police's repression also intensified. Fan initiatives also began to take action against the skinheads. Although football is still part of the various skinhead scenes today, the hooligan scene changed fundamentally in the late 1980s / early 1990s. Active hooligans are rarely found among the skinheads.

Under Michael Kühnen and his various groups ( Freedom German Workers' Party and the New Front ) some skinheads were recruited for the "national cause". The music of right-wing extremist skinhead bands was marketed through labels such as Metal Enterprises and Rock-O-Rama . From around 1986 the Nationalist Front , the NPD and The Republicans began to advertise the strengthened youth culture. Only with the influence of Blood and Honor in Great Britain and the fall of the Wall did the right-wing skinhead scene in Germany develop further.

German Democratic Republic

In the GDR there was also a lively interest in the subculture in the 1980s, with many young people from the West getting their information about skinheads (often illegally, for example through magazines). This also resulted in a skinhead movement in the GDR. The first wave of skinheads emerged east of the Iron Curtain in the early 1980s . Clothing typical of the scene such as Harrington jackets or Dr. Martens , which were not available in the GDR or were only available at overpriced black market prices, received them from other socialist countries (especially Czechoslovakia and Hungary). The first groups of apolitical skinheads formed in Dresden. From the beginning they built a proletarian macho image. In the middle-class milieu of the GDR, skinheads in typical work clothes initially caused far less attention than the shrill outfits of the punk movement. Classified by the security authorities as "willing to work", they initially fell far less into the common cliché of the state-persecuted " anti-social bums ". There was no homogeneous skinhead movement in the GDR either. Rather, the skinheads were divided into various smaller groups with a wide variety of values. A large part of the GDR skinheads had switched over from the punk movement in the mid-1980s. Shortly afterwards, however, the first right-wing skinheads came onto the scene. Influenced by the stigmatization of the skinhead scene as right-wing extremist in the available western media, the skinheads in the east formed the right-wing counterpoint to the punk movement classified as left-wing extremist in the public perception. The scene was subsequently joined by a large number of people who only had a vague idea of ​​the skinhead subculture. The still young movement was largely right-wing until 1988. The Ministry for State Security (MfS) estimated the number of right-wing radical skinheads in the GDR at 800 people in a report dated February 2, 1988.

In the 1980s, the “Lichtenberg Front”, an association of skinheads and supporters of the BFC Dynamo , was founded, later renamed “Movement 30 January”, referring to the date of the “ seizure of power ”. The attack on the Zionskirche on October 17, 1987, when about 30 drunk skinheads and hooligans , mainly members of this association, stormed a concert in East Berlin's Zionskirche , caused major riots . The bands Die Firma and Element of Crime played in front of around 1,000 fans at the event . After the skinheads stormed the concert under right-wing extremist slogans and indiscriminately hit punks and bystanders, there was a mass panic. Despite several emergency calls, the German People's Police did not intervene. It was suspected by parts of the GDR opposition that the attack on the Zionskirche, known as the opposition center, and the environmental library connected to it was just in time for the police and the state security . The subsequent search for the perpetrators, however, was successful. 22 skinheads and four punks who participated in the brawl were arrested and tried. Shortly afterwards, the MfS also showed interest in the skinhead movement. In 1988 the Lichtenberg Front continued to make a name for itself when the Jewish cemetery in Schönhauser Allee was desecrated.

By 1988, 1067 skinheads had been registered in the GDR area, of which around 82 were investigated and 156 were arrested. The rest were infiltrated by Unofficial Staff (IM). In East Berlin, which was considered the stronghold of the skinhead movement, around 33 of the 267 skinheads were IM. The Stasi also issued an "identification key for official use" which, in addition to the other subcultures, also included the skinheads. According to this document, the skinheads were chalked up as “ neo-fascist tendencies”, “macho cult ideology (male cult)”, “rejection of any state order” and “partly hatred of foreigners”. The scene "often exists in a rowdy football attachment" and has "connections to the same group of people in capitalist foreign countries". The scene was far less interested in music than its western counterpart. The only groups included were Brutal Sharks from Erfurt and Pitbull in Meerane . Both were founded around 1988.

Right-wing extremist skinheads continued to dominate the scene, especially after the fall of the Wall. The German Alternative , later headed by Michael Kühnen , was composed of parts of the Lichtenberg Front . A prominent representative was the later dropout Ingo Hasselbach , who also describes this period in his biography Die Abrechnung and in the feature film Führer Ex based on his biography .

Developments after the fall of the Berlin Wall

SHARPs and Redskins

At the end of the 1980s, an active SHARP and RASH movement first formed in the old federal states , some of which sought to join the Antifa . The SHARP movement became most popular in Berlin. This anti-racist sub - scene only spread slowly in the new federal states. These skinheads have set themselves the goal of preserving the so-called "Spirit of 69" and actively standing up for a more positive public assessment. In addition to fans of Oi! Music, there are also numerous fans of Ska, Rocksteady and Northern Soul . In addition to the traditional, tough appearance, there are clothing styles of the rude boy - and the original skinhead scene, for example the pork pie hat and two-tone suits. To a certain extent, the most popular fanzines in this area include the Skin Up and its two predecessors Oi! Reka and Skintonic , even if some of these later diverged from left-wing structures. Musically, Ska influences often dominated, for example in No Respect and No Sports .

The RASH approach, on the other hand, is increasingly based on socialist and anarchist ideas and is more strongly organized in left-wing associations and parties. Much of the skinhead scene rejects these two manifestations from, partly because they refuse generally left structures, partly because of personal resentment against the leaders of this movement, which in the trendy clubs like the SO36 , Pfefferberg and the Conne Iceland acted . The right skinhead scene sees both groups as enemy images.

Right-wing rock boom

Arson attacks like the one in Solingen attracted the right-wing extremist skinhead scene

In the east in particular, the right-wing extremist skinhead scene was strengthened, in particular by Kühnen's National Alternative and its leading figure and later dropout Ingo Hasselbach . The right-wing extremist skinhead boom had its climax around the assassinations in Mölln (1992) and Solingen (1993), as well as the riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen (1992) and Hoyerswerda (1991). Up until this point in time, the problem with right-wing extremist youth cultures, which were mainly composed of the skinhead scene, was hardly known to the population. After the unrest, the German press focused on the skinhead scene. Störkraft and the Böhsen Onkelz, who have since left the skinhead culture, were featured in various panel discussions .

In the course of this development, right-wing extremist labels such as Rock-O-Rama, Metal Enterprises and Torsten Lemmer's Funny Sounds & Vision were able to make high profits. Lemmer announced, for example, in his dropout book Rechts raus that he was able to sell around 70,000 units of individual Störkraft publications. Bands like Kraftschlag , Noiewerte , 08/15 and Macht & Ehre showed national socialist and racist tendencies and radicalized themselves compared to the old right-wing rock scene. These bands came from the skinhead culture and also referred to it positively. Musically, the new bands were less oriented towards the old Oi! And more towards the metal sound. While there were still Ska rhythms in the final stage and the early Onkelz, the new scene increasingly focused on hardness. The first fanzines appeared in the 1980s, but it wasn't until Torsten Lemmer's magazine Moderne Zeiten and Rock Nord did the reporting from the scene become more professional.

Neo-Nazi skinhead

In the mid-1990s and the first wave of seizures and the first repression, some groups adapted again and defused their texts. Another part became even more radical. At the same time, for example, right-wing rock bands were founded that had little connection to the skinhead scene. Landser came from the rocker milieu and Daniel "Gigi" Giese ( Saccara , Stahlgewitter , Gigi & the brown town musicians ) from the metal scene .

Nevertheless, the skinhead subculture has remained the predominant appearance to this day, even if other musical styles such as Hatecore and National Socialist Black Metal , as well as alternative styles of expression such as the Autonomous Nationalists, led to a differentiation of the right-wing extremist scene.

Organizationally, the radical part of the skinhead scene united in the associations Blood and Honor (until the ban in 2000) and the Hammerskins . The majority of organized right-wing extremists, however, flowed into the Free Comradeships and the NPD.

Non-political skinhead scene

As early as the 1980s, a skinhead scene that defined itself as “non-political” and had no interest in political power struggles emerged. This scene did not define itself as "anti-fascist" or "right-wing", but rejected any politics. This scene spread further in the 1990s. Musically, the scene was based on the original Oi! Punk and largely dispensed with the Ska elements. Nevertheless, catchphrases such as the “Spirit of 69” (alleged year of origin of the skinhead cult) and the “working class” are expressions of a more backward-looking development. Bands like Bierpatrioten and keep your mouth shut also defined themselves through macho behavior, heavy alcohol consumption and sexist views. In their texts they often turn against all forms of politics, hippies , philistines and so-called do - gooders . Local patriotism based on place of origin or state, as well as football and fights are further textual features. The groups hate both Antifa and right-wing extremist skinheads. Instead, the alliance with the apolitical punk scene is propagated. Labels include Knock Out Records , the more anti-fascist Mad Butcher Records and Teenage Rebel Records , as well as Willi Wucher's former Scumfuck label.

While bands like Smegma and Loikaemie reject right-wing skinheads, part of the scene showed solidarity with the extreme fringe groups and, for example, attended concerts by right-wing extremist bands. Another part of the scene, such as SpringtOifel and Boots & Braces , had the same roots as the right-wing extremist scene, but distanced themselves sharply from it. Cross-border commuters, like Volker Grüner from 4 per mille , who was a former member of Störkraft, are not uncommon. There is also a non-political scene that is suspected of being latently right-wing extremists. The term "gray area" was coined for this in very controversial anti-fascist weblogs .

Punk fanzines and magazines like the Plastic Bomb , the Ox and the Trust try to educate people about this scene and, if necessary, to convey it. Well-known labels include Dim Records , where right-wing extremist bands such as Kampfzone and Endstufe also have contracts that are difficult to classify politically, as well as the Boots & Braces label Walzwerk Records, which initially also sold Skrewdriver records . Furthermore, various right-wing rock labels sell politically less suspicious skinhead bands.

In addition to the skin up , other fanzines are also available that report on this subculture. In addition to non-political magazines such as Moloko Plus and webzines such as oi! Vision , which draw a clear line between certain bands in the “non-political scene” and the right-wing rock scene, there are a number of zines that also report on right-wing extremist bands.

statistics

Even if the representation in the literature suggests a differentiation between the different species, the skinhead scene in Germany is heterogeneous and statistically difficult to grasp. While authors like Klaus Farin assume that the original skinhead culture outweighs the right-wing extremist, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung published a publication by Richard Stöss in 2007 , which states that “the racist orientation predominates in the skins”. The non-political skinheads are quantitatively significant, while the proportion of Redskins and SHARPs is rather marginal.

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution observes the right-wing extremist part of the skinhead subculture. In the 1990s, skinhead culture was the dominant form of the violent right-wing extremist scene. In the meantime, the report for the protection of the constitution shows a decrease in the number of skinheads prepared to use violence. They are being replaced by newer right-wing extremists from the Hatecore and NSBM scene.

German skinhead bands (selection)

literature

  • Susanne El-Nawab: Skinheads. Aesthetics and violence . Frankfurt am Main: Brandes & Apsel Verlag, 2001, ISBN 3-86099-209-0 .
  • Klaus Farin, Eberhard Seidel : Skinheads. 5th edition. Munich: Beck Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-406-47583-3 .
  • Frank Lauenburg: 40 years of skinheads. Youth scene and worker myth . m-press, Martin Meidenbauer Verlagbuchhandlung, Munich, 2009. ISBN 978-3-89975-695-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Farin / Seidel 2002, p. 100.
  2. ↑ Klaus Farin : Urban Rebels. The history of the skinhead movement . In: Klaus Farin (Ed.): The Skins. Myth and Reality . Christoph Links Verlag, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-86153-136-4 , p. 9-68 .
  3. ↑ Farin / Seidel 2002, p. 100f.
  4. ↑ Farin / Seidel 2002, p. 103.
  5. ↑ Farin / Seidel 2002, p. 104.
  6. ↑ Michael Weiss: Accompanying music to murder and manslaughter. Right-wing rock in Germany . In: Searchlight / Antifaschistisches Infoblatt / enough is enough / series of antifascist texts (ed.): White Noise. Right-wing rock, skinhead music, blood & honor - insights into the international neo-Nazi music scene . Unrast, Hamburg / Münster 2000, ISBN 3-89771-803-0 , p. 63-88 .
  7. ^ A b "Ronald Reagan": In the valley of the clueless: Underground in Dresden . In: Ronald Galenza and Heinz Havemeister (eds.): We always want to be good…. Punk, New Wave, HipHop, independent scene in the GDR 1980–1990 . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 1999, p. 153 f .
  8. ^ A b c Gideon Botsch: From Skinhead-Subculture to Radical Right Movement: The Development of a 'National Opposition' in East Germany . In: Contemporary European History . No. 4 , November 2012, p. 560 .
  9. ↑ BStu, ZA, SED-KL 399 p. 5.
  10. ↑ Michael Raubhut: Zeitbilder: Rock in the GDR . Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 2002, ISBN 3-89331-459-8 , p. 116, 118 f . (Identification key for service use).
  11. ^ Gideon Botsch: From Skinhead-Subculture to Radical Right Movement: The Development of a 'National Opposition' in East Germany . In: Contemporary European History . No. 4 , November 2012, p. 559 .
  12. ↑ El-Nawab 2001, p. 31.
  13. ↑ El-Nawab 2001, p. 29.
  14. ↑ Torsten Lemmer : Right out . Das neue Berlin, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-360-01242-9 , p. 77 .
  15. ^ Klaus Farin / Henning Flad: reactionary rebels. Right-wing extremist music in Germany . In: Archive of youth cultures (ed.): Reactionary rebels. Right-wing extremist music in Germany . Archive of Youth Cultures, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-936068-04-6 , p. 22nd f .
  16. ↑ Martin Büsser : How does the new middle sound? Right and reactionary tendencies in pop music . Ventil Verlag, Mainz 2001, ISBN 3-930559-90-0 , p. 69-85 .
  17. ↑ Example of such a blog: oireszene.blogsport.de. Retrieved January 12, 2010 .
  18. ↑ “Ingo Taler”: The other side of punk. In: Lotta No. 4. Retrieved January 13, 2010 .
  19. ↑ a b Richard Stöss : Right-wing extremism in transition . 2nd updated edition. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung , Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89892-790-1 , p. 168 .
  20. ↑ Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution : Report on the Protection of the Constitution 2009 . Ed .: Federal Ministry of the Interior . 2010, ISSN  0177-0357 , p. 65 ( bund.de [PDF]). Constitutional Protection Report 2009 ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2012 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmi.bund.de