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C. 1970 – C. 1990 CONTESTED SPACE: THE HISTORY OF SQUATTING IN DIVIDED BERLIN C. 1970 – C. 1990. Peter Angus Mitchell Dissertation submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Classics, and Archaeology University of Edinburgh 2015 In Erwägung, daß da Häuser stehen während ihr uns ohne Bleibe laßt haben wir beschlossen, jetzt dort einzuziehen weil es uns in uns'ren Löchern nicht mehr paßt. - Bertolt Brecht, Resolution der Kommunarden (1934) Wir brauchen keine Hausbesitzer, denn die Häuser gehören uns. Wir brauchen keine Fabrikbesitzer, die Fabriken gehören uns. - Ton Steine Scherben, Die letzte Schlacht gewinnen wir (1972) ii for my mother and father I declare that this thesis is entirely my own work and that no part of it has previously been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification, nor has it been published in any form. 6 April 2015 iii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the history of urban squatting in East and West Berlin from c. 1970 to c.1990. In doing so, it explores the relationship between urban space, opposition and conformity, mainstream and alternative cultures, as well as questions of identity and belonging in both halves of the formerly divided city. During Berlin’s history of division, illegal squatting was undertaken by a diverse range of actors from across the period’s political and Cold War divides. The practice emerged in both East and West Berlin during the early 1970s, continuing and intensifying during the following decade, before the traditions of squatting on both sides of the Berlin Wall converged in 1989-90, as the city’s – and Germany’s – physical division was overcome. Squatting, this thesis argues, provides an important yet little studied chapter in Berlin’s – and indeed Germany’s – post-war history. What is more, it provides an example of the ways in which, during the period of Cold War division, Berlin’s and Germany’s symbolic meaning was not only contested between East and West, but was, within the respective societies, also re-interpreted from below. Drawing on a broad range of archival sources, this thesis compares and contrasts the experience of squatters on both sides of the Berlin Wall, and the ways in which the respective polities responded to this phenomenon. Broadly similar paradigms of urban renewal, this thesis argues, account for not only parallels in the temporality but also the geography of squatting in East and West Berlin. In both Berlins, this thesis demonstrates, the history of squatting was interconnected with that of domestic opposition and political dissidence. Moreover, squatting contributed to the emergence of alternative urban lifestyles, which sustained comparable urban sub-cultures on both sides of the Cold War divide. Perhaps counter-intuitively, this thesis argues that, East Germany’s apparatus of control notwithstanding, the relationship between squatters and the authorities in the GDR was generally more consensual than it was between their counterparts in West Germany and West Berlin. The thesis not only points to the limits of the totalitarian model of interpretation when applied to late Socialist society in the GDR, but also questions the dominant historiographical trend of studying the two Germanys in isolation from one another. Taking its cue from a number of influential scholars, this thesis asserts the importance of incorporating the experiences of both East and West Germany into a narrative of the nation’s divided past. Through identifying and analysing the overarching variable of urban squatting, this thesis attempts to develops a perspective that regards the post-war history of East and West Germany as part of a wider whole. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 1: BERLIN’S CONTESTED LANDSCAPE ................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 2: ‘THIS IS OUR HOUSE!’ THE STRUGGLE OVER THE ‘RAUCH-HAUS’ ...... 59 CHAPTER 3: SQUATTING ‘BEHIND’ THE BERLIN WALL ...................................................... 91 CHAPTER 4: ‘REHAB SQUATTING’ .............................................................................................. 133 CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITY AND VIOLENCE ............................................................................. 172 CHAPTER 6: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE WEST BERLIN SQUATTERS’ MOVEMENT ........................................................................................................................................... 199 CHAPTER 7: SQUATTING AND THE SED-STATE ................................................................... 243 CHAPTER 8: ANARCHY IN THE EAST ........................................................................................ 276 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 316 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 325 v ABBREVIATIONS APO Außerparlamentarische Opposition (Extra-Parliamentary Opposition) APOusB Archiv ‘APO und soziale Bewegungen’, Fachbereich Politische Wissenschaft der Freien Universität Berlin (Archive ‘APO and Social Movements’, Faculty of Political Science at the Free University of Berlin) BAB Bundesarchiv Berlin (Federal Archive, Berlin) BStU Bundesbeauftragten für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (The Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former German Democratic Republic) CDU Christian-Democratic Union FDJ Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth) FRG Federal Republic of Germany FFBIZ Frauenforschungs-, -bildungs- und -informationszentrum e.V. (Woman’s research, education and information centre e.V.) GDR German Democratic Republic GSG9 Grenzschutz Gruppe 9 (Border Security Group 9) HAV Robert Havemann Gesellschaft e.V. Archiv der DDR Opposition IBP Instandbesetzer Post KPD Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (Communist Party of Germany) KPD/ML Die Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands/MarXisten-Leninisten (The Communist Party of Germany/Marxist-Leninist) KWB Kommunistischer Bund Westdeutschland (Communist League of West Germany) LAB Landesarchiv Berlin (Berlin State Archive) MfS Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Ministry for State Security) Papiertiger Archiv und Bibliothek der sozialen Bewegungen vi PA (Papertiger Archive and Library of Social Movements) RAF Rote Armee Fraktion (Red Army Faction) RTB Runder Tisch Berlin (Berlin Round Table) SAPMO Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv (Archive Foundation of Parties and Mass Organizations of the GDR) SDS Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund (Socialist German Student Federation) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) SEW Sozialistische Einheitspartei Westberlins (Socialist Unity Party of West Berlin) SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) taz die tageszeitung VfS Verfassungsschutz (Office for the Protection oft the Constitution) vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been possible without the assistance of doctoral funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom, in addition to generous financial assistance from the School of History, Classics and Archeology at the University of Edinburgh. This research was greatly assisted by the staff in various libraries and archives in Berlin. Irena Kukutz and Petra Söllner of Havemann-Archiv der DDR Opposition, Dagmar Nöldge of the Frauenforschungs- bildungs- und - informationszentrum e. V., as well Monika Schmidt of Berlin’s Landesarchiv, Astrid Rose of the BStU, and all those who assisted me at the Bundesarchiv- Berlin, deserve mention. I thank them not only for their professionalism but also for their patience. The staff at the Staatsbibliohtek zu Berlin, as well as the Pablo-Neruda-Bibliothek, where much of the final draft of this thesis was written, also deserve mention. I am also greatly indebted to ‘Punx’, the indefatigable archivist of the Papiertiger – Archiv für sozialen Bewegungen Berlin. I owe a debt of gratitude to all those who offered assistance and advice over the course of this research. My thanks go out to Mark McLean, Louise Settle, Malcolm Craig, Marc Heise, Francis Houghton and all those who contributed to the excellent working environment in the School of History, Classics and Archeology’s postgraduate study office. I would like to thank Patrick Gilner and Jackob Warnecke, who proved excellent companions during my time spent researching in the archives in Berlin. I reserve a special mention for my flatmates in Edinburgh and Berlin, Koosha Eghbal and Michele Giugni, both of whom have demonstrated to me that philosophy is not only an academic discipline but a way of life. Principally, I would like to thank my dissertation supervisors, Dr. Pertti Ahonen and Professor Jill Stevenson, without whose assistance this project would have been a failure. I thank them not only for showing faith in me and my research, but also for their suggestions, their feedback and comments, and their advice throughout the duration of my PhD. The administrative staff at the University of Edinburgh deserve special mention, in particular Nico Ovenden and Lindsay Scott. I would like to express my gratitude to Esther Dräger who assisted me
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