ICH BIN EIN BURNIN

“We believe for a space to be truly autonomous it must first be liberated. Liberated in our sense doesn’t just mean taking something out of the hands of capitalists (the mere re- appropriation of a building) but rather taking space and finding ways to use it as a weapon against the State and Capital.” 

The recent Action Days for autonomous spaces had Berlin in chaos throughout the last week of May as anarchists converged for varied and often militant actions in defence of ‘free space”. We could go into an indepth, theoretical analysis of anarchism here, but we won’t: let’s go straight to where the real action was happening, down on streets...

Fires raged as cars, vans, trucks, billboards, bins, construction cranes and other vehicles in their dozens were torched, yuppie new-builds were trashed by paint bombs and stones, windows were smashed, roads were littered with caltrops (bent nails designed to puncture car tyres), advertising screens destroyed and estate agents were graff-ed and glue put in the locks. Buildings were squatted in their numbers and an anti-gentrification rally was held. 

Amongst the multifarious actions, McDonalds in Kreuzberg was trashed, a banner was dropped from the roof of the cathedral Berliner Dom and barricades were built in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg and Wedding. Targets were numerous and diverse, including Media Spree land developers, SAP - a software company connected to arms trade, the Verdi Hotel and banks like Sparkasse.

A web-based real time info-ticker kept everyone informed with up-to-the-minute info on demos, actions, arrests, police locations and descriptions of undercover cops and their vehicles. The Kopi squatted centre held workshops, voku (people’s kitchen) and a pirate radio station.

Despite beatings and arrests, Berlin’s activists remain undaunted after their week-long revolt.

See http://wba.blogsport.de and Indymedia Berlin.