Fighting Skyrocketing Rents: Activists Bring Flashmob Tactics to War on Gentrification

• Print
• E-Mail
• Feedback

After a quarter of an hour, the party is over. The protesters stomp down the stairwell, hooting and jeering. All they have left behind are a few paper streamers and some confetti on the freshly varnished floorboards. "We don't cause any damage," says Jonas, the group's spokesman. "The worst thing that can happen is that we spill a bit of wine." He says the activists deliberately set up the protests to be as inclusive as possible. "We try to start a dialogue with people."

Outside on the street, the activists pose for a group photo for the journalists present. The bewildered realtor has to defend himself against a barrage of uncomfortable questions. No, he says, the real estate agency is not responsible for setting the level of the rent -- that's up to the landlord to decide. Does he have any sympathy for the protestors? "Sure, sure, I can understand it," he says softly. Then he crosses the street to make a phone call in peace.

Handcuffed

Five minutes later, a police van comes round the corner of the street. A dozen police officers burst out of the vehicle and run toward the protesters, who are strolling away in the direction of the pub where they met earlier. Some of them start to run, prompting the police to intervene and block the protestors' way. When one activist tries to make his escape, he is handcuffed. "Apparently there was some jostling during the flat viewing," says the officer in charge of the unit when asked why the man is being held.

Two lawyers who have accompanied the activists speak up. "That is not a crime. Sometimes it gets a bit cramped at flat viewings -- that's all." A heated discussion ensues. The man is released after five minutes, once the police have taken down his personal details. "Learn about civil rights next time!" shout the activists as the police head off.

For one observer at least, it's no coincidence that the police took such a heavy-handed approach to dealing with the incident. According to Marc Meyer, a lawyer from a local organization that advises tenants on their rights, the Hamburg branch of Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which monitors the far-left scene, has set up a working group dedicated to the anti-gentrification movement. "They are happy to get activists' personal details," Meyer said.

'Alternative Opportunities'

The police won't have to wait long for their next run-in with the protestors. At the "Fat Rent Party" in the Schanzenviertel, the activists handed out flyers announcing an event that another group is planning at an empty office building which has a public viewing on Oct. 23. The 18-story Astra Tower in Hamburg's St. Pauli neighborhood, named for a popular local brand of beer, was completed in 2007 but has been largely empty ever since -- as is another 1.2 million square meters (13 million square feet) of office space in the city.

The flyer promises that the activists behind the new event will "investigate alternative opportunities for using the space" at the viewing. In other words, they want to squat the building.

• Back
• 1
• | 2

• Part 1: Activists Bring Flashmob Tactics to War on Gentrification
• Part 2: The Police Turn Up