UPDATED
Berlin police clear anarchist-occupied house Liebig 34FORMER EAST GERMANY
Police in Berlin met with resistance while trying to clear left-wing activists from an occupied house and cultural center following a court order. People living in the building have called the eviction illegal.
Police have launched an operation to clear the Liebig 34 house in Berlin, which had been occupied by a group of left-wing radicals.
Hundreds of protesters gathered early Friday morning in the Friedrichshain neighborhood as police began enforcing the eviction order. Fights broke out between black-clad demonstrators and the police in front of the building, as recorded and tweeted by a reporter from the daily Die Welt.
Police drove a van up to the building's entrance and several officers tried to break through the barricaded door.
Around 1,500 officers from eight different German states took part in the evictions, including specialist units. The police were acting on behalf of a court order to return the property to its owners.
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'A long history' of clashes between police, activists
DW reporter Emmanuelle Chaze was on the scene as protesters and police gathered outside the building. She tweeted a video showing the hundreds of people who had come to "defend a building occupied by anarcho-queer-feminists that police has planned to evacuate this morning," adding that "antifas & police have a long history of stand offs in this Berlin suburb."
The mostly young people defending the occupied corner house shouted slogans in support of the occupants and against the police — "houses for those who live in them," "all of Berlin hates the police."
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According to police accounts, glass projectiles and fireworks were thrown at officers within the closed-off zone. Throughout the night protesters allegedly burned tires, garbage dumpsters and set fire to the Tiergarten metro station building.
The occupants of Liebig34 claimed that their lawyer was prohibited by police from entering the house or talking with the bailiff, as such the "eviction is still illegal."
Feminist refuge, symbol of resistance
Liebig 34 describes itself as an "anarcha-queer-feminist" housing project and one of the last remaining symbols of the leftist scene in the German capital. The leftist bar Syndikat was cleared in August despite large protests in the city.
Police were on hand early ahead of the scheduled eviction
The Liebig 34 building, which is covered in flags and leftist graffiti, has offered a place of refuge for women, trans and intersex people since 1999. An autonomously run bar and cultural center allowed the occupants to raise funds to cover rent.
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The owner of the property, Gijora Padovicz, refused to renew the group's 10-year rental contract in 2018 and began a court process to evict the inhabitants. Padovicz owns several hundred homes in Berlin and has been accused of allowing his properties to deteriorate in order to renovate them and increase rents, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
William Noah Glucroft, a DW reporter, tweeted pictures showing how East Berlin has changed over the past few years. He said that gentrification is "(partly) what Liebig34 is about."
ab/sms (AFP, dpa)
Date 09.10.2020
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3jf3W
Police clear out famous Berlin squat Liebig 34
By Euronews with AP, AFP • last updated: 09/10/2020 -
During the eviction, police officers use a turntable ladder to enter through a window of "Liebig 34". - Copyright Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP
Police in riot gear have cleared out the notorious Liebig 34 squat in Berlin.
They entered the building after residents refused to open the door for a court employee to deliver their eviction notice.
Inhabitants say they have grown angry with soaring rents in the German capital.
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said 1,500 officers were called to assist in the eviction. Authorities said they only encountered passive resistance from residents as they carried people individually down a firetruck ladder.
"They are becoming homeless," Moritz Heusinger, the lawyer for the Liebig34 collective, told AFP news agency.
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"It goes against human rights to throw people out onto the street in the middle of a pandemic when they cannot pay their rent."
Some of the tenants pumped their fists in the air as they were led out from an upper level by police, while others forced police to carry them out.
An armoured car was also stationed in front of the graffiti-covered building, as police kept onlookers at a wide distance.
Police have launched an operation to clear the Liebig 34 house in Berlin, which had been occupied by a group of left-wing radicals.
Hundreds of protesters gathered early Friday morning in the Friedrichshain neighborhood as police began enforcing the eviction order. Fights broke out between black-clad demonstrators and the police in front of the building, as recorded and tweeted by a reporter from the daily Die Welt.
Police drove a van up to the building's entrance and several officers tried to break through the barricaded door.
Around 1,500 officers from eight different German states took part in the evictions, including specialist units. The police were acting on behalf of a court order to return the property to its owners.
Read more: Extinction Rebellion blocks German parliament
'A long history' of clashes between police, activists
DW reporter Emmanuelle Chaze was on the scene as protesters and police gathered outside the building. She tweeted a video showing the hundreds of people who had come to "defend a building occupied by anarcho-queer-feminists that police has planned to evacuate this morning," adding that "antifas & police have a long history of stand offs in this Berlin suburb."
The mostly young people defending the occupied corner house shouted slogans in support of the occupants and against the police — "houses for those who live in them," "all of Berlin hates the police."
Read more: Climate activists occupy coal mine, power plants
According to police accounts, glass projectiles and fireworks were thrown at officers within the closed-off zone. Throughout the night protesters allegedly burned tires, garbage dumpsters and set fire to the Tiergarten metro station building.
The occupants of Liebig34 claimed that their lawyer was prohibited by police from entering the house or talking with the bailiff, as such the "eviction is still illegal."
Feminist refuge, symbol of resistance
Liebig 34 describes itself as an "anarcha-queer-feminist" housing project and one of the last remaining symbols of the leftist scene in the German capital. The leftist bar Syndikat was cleared in August despite large protests in the city.
Police were on hand early ahead of the scheduled eviction
The Liebig 34 building, which is covered in flags and leftist graffiti, has offered a place of refuge for women, trans and intersex people since 1999. An autonomously run bar and cultural center allowed the occupants to raise funds to cover rent.
Read more: Berlin gentrification debate flares over Norwegian billionaire's investment
The owner of the property, Gijora Padovicz, refused to renew the group's 10-year rental contract in 2018 and began a court process to evict the inhabitants. Padovicz owns several hundred homes in Berlin and has been accused of allowing his properties to deteriorate in order to renovate them and increase rents, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
William Noah Glucroft, a DW reporter, tweeted pictures showing how East Berlin has changed over the past few years. He said that gentrification is "(partly) what Liebig34 is about."
ab/sms (AFP, dpa)
Date 09.10.2020
Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3jf3W
Police clear out famous Berlin squat Liebig 34
By Euronews with AP, AFP • last updated: 09/10/2020 -
During the eviction, police officers use a turntable ladder to enter through a window of "Liebig 34". - Copyright Christophe Gateau/dpa via AP
Police in riot gear have cleared out the notorious Liebig 34 squat in Berlin.
They entered the building after residents refused to open the door for a court employee to deliver their eviction notice.
Inhabitants say they have grown angry with soaring rents in the German capital.
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said 1,500 officers were called to assist in the eviction. Authorities said they only encountered passive resistance from residents as they carried people individually down a firetruck ladder.
"They are becoming homeless," Moritz Heusinger, the lawyer for the Liebig34 collective, told AFP news agency.
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Berlin starts controversial rent freeze on 1.5 million homes
"It goes against human rights to throw people out onto the street in the middle of a pandemic when they cannot pay their rent."
Some of the tenants pumped their fists in the air as they were led out from an upper level by police, while others forced police to carry them out.
An armoured car was also stationed in front of the graffiti-covered building, as police kept onlookers at a wide distance.
The so-called "Liebig 34" squat is located in Berlin's Friedrichshain neighbourhood.Paul Zinken/dpa via AP
A number of supporters of the residents threw firecrackers and bottles at the police, but Cablitz reported that other protests had been peaceful.
The famous squat is named after its address, Liebigstrasse 34, in Berlin's eastern Friedrichshain neighbourhood, and was a symbol for the left-wing scene, housing around forty women, trans and intersex people since 1999.
The building has been partially occupied for 30 years and has been subject to numerous court battles before the residents were finally ordered out of the apartments.
German police had prepared themselves for clashes, which broke out during stormy eviction attempts in the 1990s.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, blocks of abandoned houses in the east of the capital were taken over by students, artists, and activists, with occupations later legalised.
A number of supporters of the residents threw firecrackers and bottles at the police, but Cablitz reported that other protests had been peaceful.
The famous squat is named after its address, Liebigstrasse 34, in Berlin's eastern Friedrichshain neighbourhood, and was a symbol for the left-wing scene, housing around forty women, trans and intersex people since 1999.
The building has been partially occupied for 30 years and has been subject to numerous court battles before the residents were finally ordered out of the apartments.
German police had prepared themselves for clashes, which broke out during stormy eviction attempts in the 1990s.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, blocks of abandoned houses in the east of the capital were taken over by students, artists, and activists, with occupations later legalised.
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