Right-wing Extremism and No-go-areas in Germany

Abstract

Right-wing extremist groups in almost every Western European country became aware of the concept of no-go-areas over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, and some of them even applied this concept over a short period. This study looks at the manifestations of this concept in Germany, where politics and society are still confronted with the legacy of Nazism. The author sets out to examine whether no-go-areas actually exist in Germany, and if they do, to look at how life in them is organised, how they are accepted by majority society, and how these activities are supported (or initiated) by the NPD, a German right-wing extremist party. In the region of former East Germany in particular there has been an increase in support for neo-Nazism as an extreme reaction to the deteriorating economic and social situation. Studies have shown that in this region more and more citizens are sinking into the ‘modernisation trap’, and as a result right-wing extremism and neo-Nazism are gaining more and more ground. One way in which the extreme right-wing NPD and related or subordinate ‘friendly’ organisations want to ‘control the streets’, and thereby also the public, is through the establishment of ‘no-goareas’, which are areas dominated by neo-Nazis. The objective is to create a zone for neo-Nazi sympathisers, chase out foreigners and co-citizens who do not share extremist views, and work towards achieving the ultimate goal: destroying democracy and establishing the ‘Fourth Reich’.