Rote Flora contract leaked

[Widerstand]

The newspaper Die Welt apparently has access to the contract between the city of Hamburg and Kretschmer, now nominal property owner of the Rote Flora (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rote_Flora). The contract ran for 10 years, and runs out this March, which means that Kretschmer can resell the property.

The contract states that the property must remain public space and a cultural center, however there's some doubt about whether or not that part is still valid if the property is sold after the 10 year period. This means that tearing down the building might be legally possible, and eviction might be enforceable by the new owner.

From a political PoV, an eviction seems highly undesirable for the new government (to be elected in February, likely including the SPD) because of our (everyone's!) resistance.

Rote Flora stays!

VZ76VTlR3hk

[Widerstand]

Google Translation of original (large) indy text:

http://translate.google.de/translate?u=http://de.indymedia.org/2011/02/300153.shtml&sl=de&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

[Catillina]

I like this one better ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1cpZrCwbA4

But I hope they won't evact the Flora, but who knows after Liebig 14?...

[thälmann]

but i guess when they will evact the flora, there will be much harder resistance than after liebig 14. and that wasnt bad.

[Widerstand]

But I hope they won't evact the Flora, but who knows after Liebig 14?...

Liebig 14 was "just" a housing project, the Flora is more or less the last remaining independent center of the Autonomous/Squatter scene in Hamburg with importance for the whole leftist spectrum (at least symbolic). Not to mention that the Flora has also become sort of a tourist attraction. I don't think any politician wants to be responsible for evicting the Flora.

that song is awesome btw :P Though I'm not sure if this server falls under German law or not (I think it does). The album is on the Index.


but i guess when they will evact the flora, there will be much harder resistance than after liebig 14. and that wasnt bad.

Yes, definitely.

[bcbm]

just to be a bit of a devil's advocate, it seems like a lot of this is stuff said after the eviction of ungdomhuset in copenhagen and no other states have seemed particularly scared of attacking squats/house projects in the aftermath. liebig 14's eviction especially seems to suggest less fear on the part of those in power, given its central location with xb and r94 and other friedrichshein spaces right next door. i think at this point they basically think "ok we will evict this place, there will be some riots and destruction but they will die out and we will make more money in the long run as we gentrify these places." i hate to say it but nothing i've seen coming out of the milieu makes me think the politicians/landlords/fuckers whatever will back down. i can't imagine i am the only one thinking this, what are people thinking about this "on the ground" so to speak?

[Widerstand]

just to be a bit of a devil's advocate, it seems like a lot of this is stuff said after the eviction of ungdomhuset in copenhagen and no other states have seemed particularly scared of attacking squats/house projects in the aftermath. liebig 14's eviction especially seems to suggest less fear on the part of those in power, given its central location with xb and r94 and other friedrichshein spaces right next door. i think at this point they basically think "ok we will evict this place, there will be some riots and destruction but they will die out and we will make more money in the long run as we gentrify these places." i hate to say it but nothing i've seen coming out of the milieu makes me think the politicians/landlords/fuckers whatever will back down. i can't imagine i am the only one thinking this, what are people thinking about this "on the ground" so to speak?

Most people I talked to seem to think an eviction is unlikely. The city initially sold it to Kretschmer with a weird contract basically requiring the Flora to stay, to not have to deal with the issue themselves. Chances are they'll buy it back and just leave it as it is to prevent unrests (weeks of riots would be seriously bad political press a month after the new gov is formed).
Many Liebig 14 demos and actions also were announced in solidarity with the Rote Flora and other leftist centers (especially the Hamburg demos were usually commented with "this is a taste of what happens when the Flora gets evicted"). L14 itself was rather unimportant for the leftist scene, at least compared to the likes of Flora, Kopi, etc. The message, I think, was more of: Don't fuck with our stuff. I don't think any politician wants a second Bambule.

As far as gentrification goes, the whole neighborhood (Schanzenviertel) is already heavily gentrified, and as I said, the Flora is part of this. Lots of city guides for tourists mention the squat. To remove the cultural center would probably not be such a good imagechange for the neighborhood. I think they'll rather try to pacify it or make contracts for usage (which, bluntly put, won't happen).

edit: Of course, if they really want to, they'll fucking evict it. I don't think there's much we can do about it. Decentralized actions work because they can be done everywhere, but decentralized actions don't stop a police eviction unit. But I think the Hamburg leftist scene is too small/weak to stop an eviction. I may be wrong though.

[Catillina]

that song is awesome btw :P Though I'm not sure if this server falls under German law or not (I think it does). The album is on the Index.


Serious? Why? I mean, the songs of other rappers who glorifies violence, drugs and homophobia are much worser!

Or is it a political censorship?

[Widerstand]

"Inciting violence" / "calling for violence". Yeah, it's a political censorship. Tracks off the album are still played at demos and such, though ("Gängeviertel" I heard a couple of times, could be that only the Flora track is banned, idk).

[Widerstand]

Now also with a blog, for everyone interested: http://florableibt.blogsport.de/