Avalanche - The Anarchist correspondence zine Avalanche - The Anarchist correspondence zine 2 | Page 9

Hamburg : a cage called city
Contribution from Hamburg (Germany) - July 2014
We want to take a look at the city of authorities. A
look, from the outside and beneath the surface. Not
only to analyze the situation in Hamburg, but also
because we think that this situation is comparable to
other places in the world and that our questions are
the same, despite the different contexts.
Hamburg is one the most rich and biggest german cities and has about 2 millions official residents. With
such a population its clear that this doesn’t mean generalized wealth, but that this city consists of hundreds
of worlds, existing parallel.
Hamburg is widely (in)famous for its’ conservative
politics and urban sellout on a lot of levels. There is a
long and remarkable tradition of building projects and
the agressive destruction and restructuring of whole
neighborhoods without any respect for the social
structures these projects affect. The socio-political
climate in the city is shaped by a cold pragmatism that
shows clearly the interest of those in power.
The look at the politics of a city – that describes itself
more as a brand than a social context – can offer us
moments and questions with the potential of becoming
social conflicts.
The potential weaknesses of the cage.
To look at the city as a cage we are trapped in opens
up a perspective from which we can see, where we can
interrupt and sabotage the predicted order. The possibility to open up spaces, that are not supposed to be
there, that give us chances to break out. Let’s see the
city as a miniature model of this world. We see the
places, that are there for the different social groups,
that are opened for one group and closed for and
cleaned from another. We see the cables and lines, the
flows of energy, money, the public transport, that move
the workforce from a to b. We see the spectacle, that
keeps us distracted from what we`re not supposed to
see and feel. We see it everywhere, sometimes more

obvious, sometimes less: the order and its guards.
Uniformed or not, armed or as social workers or
teachers. As authoritarian institutions. As concrete
and barbed wire.
For us to be able to breath, a social revolt is necessary!
The city’s system of power-structures and authorities
might be complex and interwoven but its central and decentralized places, those more and less direct responsible for the misery of everybody’s life can be named and
attacked. The question is just where to begin.
In the last 18 months, there where at least 36 attacks on
politicians of diffrent political parties in Hamburg. Private houses, cars, offices. Paint, bricks, fire, sometimes
everything together. It is clear that we’re longing for a
situation, in which the governing and controlling of our
lives becomes a damn inconvenient thing and they have
to take responsibility for what they do on a daily basis.
They are talking about „no-go-areas“ for politicians –
but we don’t just want them out of the neighborhoods
we live in – we want them out of our lives!
Hamburg is democratic, through and through!
If it pacifies the situation or benefits the image, Hamburg can be a really liberal and “modern” place. On
the other side, you have political hardliners, that keep
the cage nice and clean.
If we look at last years tensions and the current situation you have to see, that this doesn’t always work
without problems. The rising unrest in the streets between June 2013 and January 2014, linked to conflicts
around the „Danger Zones“ (temporary zones, where
the police can control people without reasons...even
more than they already do) or the repression against
refugees didn’t leave those who oppose the authorities
unaffected. The experiences of uncontrolled moments
in the streets left traces that are visible in a rising culture of wild, spontaneous resistance that doesn’t need
an official frame, leaders or political spokepersons.

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