Once again, a self-managed youth center is under threat. In Reutlingen, the city officials believe that such an establishment does not fit into the clean city image. To stifle the initiative of those involved, they are increasingly throwing obstacles in their way through practically unimplementable requirements. The Kulturschock Zelle must remain, and a Freiraum demo is being organized for May 26. All information can be found here: kulturschock-zelle.de/demo/
The Reutlingen city administration is trying to destroy the self-managed youth & cultural center "Kulturschock Zelle" with the help of a restaurant license.
We resist and call for solidarity!!!
The Zelle has been a self-managed youth & cultural center since 1968, and from the very beginning, it was not willing to conform to the bourgeois values of Reutlingen. Therefore, parts of the city administration have always been opposed to the Zelle and have repeatedly tried to bring the autonomous center under control or even close it down. However, the city administration has never succeeded in this, and it will not succeed this time either!!!
The Zelle has always been uncomfortable, and the "Zellis" have always expressed their opinions. This has developed the Zelle into a center of political discussion and activity in Reutlingen, from which many projects, associations, and self-managed businesses have emerged, which continue to shape the cityscape of Reutlingen today.
Over the years, the Zelle has been pushed further out of the city center and banished to less attractive areas. Our current residence is located on the outskirts of the city, right next to a brothel and other dubious establishments. This is definitely not the right neighborhood for a center where young people want to live self-managed and freely.
Last summer, the public order office of Reutlingen tried to force us to apply for a restaurant license through a decree. This was justified, among other things, by the assumption that the Zelle would not comply with youth protection laws and would generate profits beyond its costs.
We vehemently oppose the assumption that we are trying to make profits. All participants work voluntarily for the Zelle. We do not run the Zelle to make money, but to gain experiences, develop ourselves, and have fun. Furthermore, we want to maintain and shape a space where a self-managed, grassroots democratic alternative to the existing social order can be lived out.
We will not be turned into a restaurant. We also do not want to be compared to restaurants, as we pursue a fundamentally different concept. We are a meeting point for young people and alternative groups, we organize concerts, lectures, parties, workshops, and much more. To make our offerings accessible to everyone, we try to keep the prices for admissions and our drinks as low as possible. There is also no consumption obligation at our place. Another pillar of our concept is extracurricular learning through mutual help and without patronizing and punishing teachers. We manage the entire operation ourselves, from accounting to cleaning the toilets and building cabinets to event technology, and we pass on our knowledge to newcomers. This has been working for us for 44 years!
A restaurant license threatens this concept; self-responsible work would no longer be possible. The license would mean that there would have to be a responsible person who would take the blame for everything, the city could make our lives difficult with requirements, and the license could be revoked at any time. Under these circumstances, our work would not be possible. We do not want any main responsible persons who have to be liable for others. Our freedom would be severely restricted, and the practice of everyone being able to participate responsibly would no longer be maintainable. As a recognized provider of extracurricular youth education, we are also prohibited from registering a business if we do not want to lose our entitlement to funding.
The city accuses us of not observing youth protection laws. Therefore, the youth must be protected from the "evil Zelle," and the Zelle must be brought under control with the help of a license. Many young people meet at the Zelle to get drunk with drinks they brought themselves. The resulting nighttime disturbances are then blamed on us. The fact that the city administration destroyed a meeting point for the youth of Reutlingen with a nighttime ban in a park does not concern them in the slightest. They are always happy to shift the resulting problems onto others.
We will not be made responsible for problems caused by the city. A license would not solve any concrete problems but would only shift them again.
We are happy to work together to solve existing grievances, but only without a looming license hanging over us!
The Office for Public Order, under the leadership of Albert Keppler, from whose ideas this whole thing has grown, is trying with the restaurant license not only to bring the Zelle under control but also to destroy an important part of Reutlingen's youth culture. Everything that does not fit into the beautiful, orderly city image must apparently be made to fit. But we have never fit, and we will not be made to fit!!!
We call on all supporters and fellow fighters to show solidarity with us and to demonstrate to the Office for Public Order that we are many and will not put up with this!
Parts of the municipal council, several groups, and individuals have already spoken out for us, but the city administration still seems unwilling to relent and insists on its position.
The decree is still pending.
Our problems with the Reutlingen city administration are not isolated incidents; cities everywhere are repeatedly trying to control and close self-managed centers, squats, housing projects, etc. Everything that does not fit the image of a well-ordered and investor-friendly business location and expresses opinions far from the mainstream is not well received. The attacks have different faces and are carried out with varying degrees of intensity and shamelessness. Our problem is also not an isolated case. The self-managed cultural center Art-Canrobert in Rastatt, for example, has already faced massive problems due to similar actions by the Rastatt administration, and the Café Irrlicht in Schopfheim has to deal with requirements as well. From other areas, one could mention the cleared squat Kommando Rhino from Freiburg.
But we will not accept the ongoing restriction of our free spaces.
We are making a loud statement to all offices and governments: "Not with us, we will not let our freedoms be restricted".
Solidarity is our weapon against bureaucracy and intrigues of the administrative apparatus!!!!
That is why we will be loud and call for a large Freiraum demo in Reutlingen!!!
We want to show how important free spaces and self-managed projects are to us and how many people stand behind them!!! We are many, and we will not be made small!!!
Come all to Reutlingen on May 26, 2012.
