The project “Strengthening Democratic Communities – for Human Dignity, against Extremism and Violence” of the Center for a Democratic Culture (ZDK) aims at making people aware of the dangers of the white supremacist movement. It offers democratic alternatives to places in East Germany where extreme right-wing groups have created a climate of anxiety among the population.


What is the concrete relation between white supremacist groups and bigotry? An example from Brandenburg might answer the question: In December 2007 five neo-Nazis in Senftenberg set on fire the food stall of Mr C., originally from Turkey. The fire completely destroyed his business, and the damage was estimated at around 14.000 Euros. The strategy of the German neo-Nazi scene is to turn as many regions as possible into “no-go areas” for anyone who doesn’t conform to their hateful ideology: Vietnamese or Turkish immigrants, homeless people, punks, gays and lesbians. All these groups are exposed to bigotry and hatred in a society that still divides people into categories of ethnic Germans and “foreigners”. The white supremacist ideology carries this attitude to extremes, with neo-Nazi groups openly using violence and intimidating the rest of the population – to create a climate of anxiety.

The ZDK helps communities to overcome this anxiety and acquiescence by offering democratic alternatives. Two such communities are Fürstenwalde in Brandenburg and Pretzien Saxony-Anhalt, both in the former East Germany. At first sight the two communities have little in common. Fürstenwalde lies midway between Berlin and the Polish border. It is a historical town of 33.000 inhabitants on the river Spree. Pretzien, on the other hand, is a village of 900 souls and lies in the heart of Saxony-Anhalt, not far from Magdeburg, the capital of the federal state.

The Center for a Democratic Culture (ZDK), founded in 1997 by criminologist Bernd Wagner, found that Fürstenwalde and Pretzien have in fact a good number of things in common. They are good examples for the struggle against right-wing extremism, a massive problem in both places. Since the beginning of the 1990s, white supremacist structures have developed in Fürstenwalde and Pretzien. However, the majority of the population doesn’t turn a blind eye to the problem but has opposed the right-wing extremists for many years – with differing degrees of success, due partly to the magnitude of the problem but also because of the way the people have dealt with it. While Bernd Wagner describes the development in Fürstenwalde as “exemplary”, he criticizes the fact that most people in Pretzien are aware of right-wing extremism as a problem but are at a loss as to what to do about it.

“After years of working against right-wing extremism we have come to realize that the neo-Nazis are still faster than most of the democratically oriented population - they are more successful in appealing to people”, says Bernd Wagner. His statement applies to both places and makes clear that a principled, active commitment to democracy, like in Fürstenwalde, requires constant effort.  As a basic principle, we should not wait until the neo-Nazis have spread their racist ideology. Organizing creative counter-demonstrations is fair enough, but in the long run it is significantly more effective for communities to take the offensive by establishing “bottom-up” democracy.

“Is it better to exclude right-wing extremists from decision-making processes, to integrate them, or to ignore them?” This is one of the many questions discussed by the Center for a Democratic Culture and the citizens of Pretzien. The interests and needs of the citizens are being taken seriously. Since the beginning of 2008 all the local clubs and initiatives are taking part in a citizens’ forum to talk about the future aims for Pretzien, including topics that a great number of mayors and citizens would rather not discuss: What should we do if an extreme right-wing organization plans to carry out a cultural event in the village? Simply ignoring the fact that the organizers belong to the neo-Nazi scene could be a possible option, but that is taking the easy way out. Boycotting the event could be just as easy. Or what about openly confronting the organization and their members with the extreme right-wing attitudes they stand for?

In big cities such as Berlin or Leipzig there would be a simpler answer. Usually enough people would take to the streets to protest against the neo-Nazis and their ideology. But in a town of only 900 inhabitants, forming an anti-Nazi alliance is anything but easy. In Pretzien, everyone knows everyone else, the neo-Nazis live right next door, they sing in the same choir and participate in the same volunteer fire department as the rest of the village. This makes it really difficult to act in the right way: on the one hand, the issue of right-wing extremism has to be addressed, on the other hand, simply excluding extremists from the discussions does not solve the issue.

The ZDK aims to create a real change in consciousness in the town. Even though this task may seem difficult at times, the citizens’ forum in Pretzien clearly shows that they are getting there.


Jan Schwab

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