Take that - this our city, too
29 May 2010

This space is squatted. It is squatted by us, who are excluded from the "growing city" Hamburg (special term for the new oficial development plans of the city of hamburg / BNQ). Squatted by those, who live here and who will not keep quiet.
We are here today, at this place, because the development around the so called "Bernhard-Nocht-Quartier" is an example for a city policy, which furthers the eviction of people who live here.
In this quarter of the city, where affordable housing is scarce, there is a huge area with nearly empty houses. A little bit of social housing will be allowed to remain but the rest will be transformed into over-expensive rental flats and exclusive freehold flats which only an exclusive top-end part of society can afford. We want to stand up against this spiral of exclusion.
This city sucks, with its luxury flats, prestige objects, privatisation, kommercialisation of public space, video camera surveillance and examinations by so called "security-services" and an increased police presence. The city bores us, but still this is our city as well.
We are here because we won't let them pacify us by their concessions.
Today we are here in the house of the former erotic art museum. And tomorrow we will show up at other places.
Against this controlled city we place the unpredictability of resistance.
Because this is our city, too.

What happened afterwards:

On saturday May 29th, at 10pm, the former erotic art museum in Hamburg / St. Pauli was squatted. The huge old building was opened for the public, a bar was set up, there was a party going on with a lot of people gathering from the nearby Hafenstrasse and pubs and alternative event locations.
At about 02am, news spread that the police is gathering forces and that an eviction is likely to happen. Still, when the police came an hour later noone was really prepared for it and there were no plans to effectively try to hold the place. At first, the police acted quite rude, dragging out people in handcuffs but in the end they didn't arrest anyone and all people were released.
Later that night there were solidarity groups burning barricades in a street of St. Pauli and unluckily some were trapped by police forces and taken into custody.

Some mainstream links (with pictures):

http://archiv.mopo.de/archiv/2010/20100530/hamburg/panorama/von_linken_besetzt_polizei_raeumt_erotic_art_museum.html
http://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/polizeimeldungen/article1513309/Hausbesetzer-im-Erotic-Art-Museum.html
http://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/polizeimeldungen/article1513307/Hausbesetzung-auf-St-Pauli.html

st.pauliiiii!

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