Anarchy is beautiful when it prevails within functioning framework conditions. The fact that Berlin has always seemed a bit like a legal vacuum is what makes the capital so appealing to this day. It has attracted draft evaders from West Germany, or big artists like Iggy Pop who wrote big songs with a little heroin.
The bit of anarchy made techno possible in the first place, ultimately becoming a hard locational advantage that drew thousands upon thousands of tourists to the clubs every year. In the end, thanks to the motto “Fuck the system”, taxes were even collected and everyone was happy.
But it becomes a big problem when the state itself acts anarchically. The last Berlin senate and federal election ended in chaos. In all likelihood, both elections will have to be repeated. What Florian Schmidt, the green city councilor from Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, has been doing there for years is also legendary: laying stones on the street to block parking spaces, for example. Set up encounter zones for a lot of money, which are then dismantled for just as much money. All of this often without prior democratic processes. The Berlin “Tagesspiegel” once called Schmidt the “Green Trump of Kreuzberg”.
In Berlin-Mitte people laughed about it for a long time. Until 2020, an attempt to calm traffic also hit Friedrichstrasse. By October 2021, there should be no more cars driving on a stretch of Friedrichstrasse. In reality, the attempt was never aborted.
Friedrichstrasse is like East Berlin’s Kudamm. There is the luxury department store Galeries Lafayette, the jeweler Bucherer and of course Butter Lindner, an institution of Berlin delicatessen. Anyone who wants to earn a little more money and spend it again tends to go or drive to Friedrichstrasse. Actually.
After the calming measures, business owners in particular complained that customers were staying away or that cars were driving through previously quiet side streets and causing traffic jams there. A wine merchant has complained about it. And the Berlin administrative court has now given her the right decision in an emergency decision. The result: the blocking of Berlin’s Friedrichstraße for car traffic was illegal.
The justification for this states that the Berlin administration argued for the blocking with a “better quality of stay”. The problem, however, is that the road traffic regulations do not recognize “quality of stay” as a legal basis for restrictions. That should have been clear to reasonably competent lawyers.
An administration that either employs incompetent lawyers or does not respond to the objections of competent lawyers destroys people’s trust in the state and its institutions. But we are in Berlin. You already know that. And maybe someone will write a good song on drugs again. Hip-hop videos in the Lamborghini can now be shot on Friedrichstrasse again.
“Kick-off Politics” is WELT’s daily news podcast. The most important topic, analyzed by WELT editors, and the dates of the day. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music or directly via RSS feed.
