A large number of the the right-wing, Neukölln Complex attacks have happened in North-Neukölln, so why does it make sense to demonstrate in South-Neukölln? The majority of Neukölln’s right-wing structures can be found in the southern part of the district. Also, several known neo-nazis live there. These include the two main suspects in the series of attacks: Sebastian Thom and Tilo Paulenz.
Here is a short outline of the right-wing spaces along the demo route starting at the Memorial for Burak Bektaş on the anniversary of Silvio Meier’s death.
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Hotel Novi Sad – Meeting place AfD NK
Schönefelder Straße 2, 12355 Rudow
Since at least 2016, events and meetings of the Neuköllner AfD have regularly taken place in the hotel and restaurant Novi Sad. The last time the “Novi Sad” hosted the Neuköllner district party conference of the AfD was October 13th, 2019. On this day the AfD elected a new executive committee. A civil-society rally protested against this. Already in 2017, an anti-fascist demonstration had addressed the role of “Novi Sad” as an AfD shelter in southern Neukölln. The operator of the location has never given a statement on this issue. His restaurant repersents the connection between the Neukölln AfD and the series of attacks by Neukölln neo-nazis spanning several years. As Georg Pazderski (leader of the AfD faction in the House of Representatives), gave a lecture in the Novi Sad on housing policy during the 2016 election campaign, among the 15 or so visitors included the two main suspects in the attacks, Tilo Paulenz and Sebastian Thom, as well as Harald Bankel, a fellow neo-nazi activist.
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Casino Zwickauer Damm – Event location AfD NK
Situated close to the Brandenburg border the Casino is the clubhouse of the allotment gardens association Am Zwickauer Damm e.V. Here the Neuköllner AfD has found its preferred location for events that are intended to appeal to a larger audience. The operator, who took over the Casino in April 2017, has regularly made the large hall (capacity 150), available to the party since then. He has even personally manned the BBQ, grilling sausages for the racists. With so much hospitality, the AfD is happy to accept that visitors must be shuttled to and from the nearest subway to the remote venue by car.
AfD, NPD and neo-nazi members appearing, talking at, or orgainising events here have included: Guido Reil, Andreas Kalbitz (“Flügel”, “Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend”) Enrico Stubbe and Kay Hönicke (“Wir für Deutschland”), Hendrik Pauli (ex-treasurer Neuköllner AfD, Bärgida, “Identitäre” demos, known for personally threatening anti-fascists), Andreas Wild, Tilo Paulenz (his house was searched in February 2018 realted to the attacks in Neukölln), Leyla Bilge (organizer of racist “women’s marches” in Kreuzberg, anti-migrant conspiracist), Sebastian Thom (the second main suspect in the series of attacks), Harald Bankel and Jens Irgang (then district chairman of the Neukölln NPD). This shows that the boundaries between the AfD and the neo-nazi scene in Neukölln are blurred or even non-existent.
In Janurary 2020, the Neukölln AfD faction invited Gottfried Curio, member of the Bundestag to the Casino. Curio, who is known for his inflammatory statements, was allowed, unchallenged, to depict racist doomsday scenarios for Neukölln
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Steakhaus Torero – Meeting place AfD NK
Neuköllner Straße 251, 12357 Berlin
The Neukölln AfD district association used to post open invites on its website inviting supporters to regulars’ events. The locations alternated between the north and south Neukölln. This kind of social events with sympathizers serves to bring new supporters to the AfD and are important networking events. Their self-styling as a people’s party (Volkspartei) was expressed in the choice of restaurants with ‘home-style cooking’ . This received quite a reaction in Neukölln with protests from neighbors. As a result locations were only announced following registration or via e-mail list. As before, participation remained easy to overview. After several changes of location and decisive anti-fascist actions, the Neuköllner AfD finally gave up its regular nights in north Neukölln.
After moving temporarily to Johannisthal, the AfD again found a business which would host them, the Torero. The steakhouse is the venue for the district association’s biweekly regulars’ nights and board meetings (Aug 2019 the district executive committee met there). This fact does not seem to have escaped anti-fascists. The Neuköllner AfD complained in a press release published at the end of March that windows of the steakhouse had been broken.
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Ostburger-Eck – Meeting place for right-wing holligans and neo-nazis.
Waltersdorfer Chausse 89, 12355 Berlin
“The Ostburger Eck in Waltersdorfer Chaussee has a back room where we met every two weeks. We exchanged ideas about our opponents, organized marches”, quote from a right-wing dropout (Jüdische Allgemeine, 2012).
A Hertha football supporters hangout, which is open to the right, attracts attention due to its unappealing guests. The AfD district councilor Christian Blank, known for his affinity to right-wing hooligans, was recently spotted among the guests. In 2010/11, Rudow nazis rented a meeting place across the road in a bunker in Ostburger Weg. In October 2012, a little further down the street, the Neuköllner CDU gathered 200 “concerned” Rudowers in the restaurant “Steckenpferd” to discuss how planned accommodation for refugees could be prevented. The organisiers were not bothered that Sebastian Thom (at that time NPD district chairman, now a main suspect in the Neukölln attacks) sat in the audience.
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Sources:
Indymedia – Novi Sad Restaurant
Indymedia – Casino am Zwickauer Damm
Indymedia – Steakhaus Torero
Indymeide – Ostburger Eck
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