Vice Fashion - Berlin Punks Look Back And Laugh

Over the last 10 years Berlin’s punks have all but disappeared from the city’s streets. The vast majority of the former squats that previously acted as social and economic networks for their inhabitants during the 80s have been systematically closed down by the government who can make money from selling the land for various urban gentrification projects.

Those that remain have moved away from their Oi! beginnings and evolved into pseudo-political factions, campaigning against their inevitable demise. In the worst cases, these squats have become trendy hangouts for angst-ridden teenagers and tourists in Green Day t-shirts. Those punks who are still around are made up of scattered members of the old guard, stuck with no realistic way out, and a younger generation whose parents were somehow involved in the original movement.

These two groups are closely knit networks of friends who demonstrate a stark solidarity in defending their credo, which basically revolves around drinking, hanging out and getting wasted. The fact that the police have seen these guys every day for the past 20 years means there’s rarely any confrontation. The only trouble, if any, comes from bored neo-Nazis and gangs of Turkish or Russian immigrants.

Clothes model’s own.

Polo by Ben Sherman, jacket by Lonsdale, boots by Dr. Martens.

NOKIA, 25
Vice: What’s a skinhead doing hanging out with punks? Nokia: Well, I used to be an Oi! punk but like a lot of people over the past few years I’ve become an Oi! skinhead. We’re different from the other punks because most of us have jobs. I’m a cook. We still hang out together, though. It’s all for one and one for all, you know? Do you get in trouble with other skinheads? We do get hassled sometimes by the neo-Nazis. We were at a concert once and things kicked off. We jumped on a bus to get away but there was a neo-Nazi guy sitting in front of us. He started calling his mates to tell them where we were, so my friends grabbed his phone and passed it to the back of the bus. He started throwing punches and we got kicked off the bus. The police were waiting for us and everyone piled in. Punks, Nazis and the police. Just like the old days? Exactly, that sort of stuff used to happen a lot. I got punched from every direction and a face full of pepper spray. The next morning I woke up in a cell. Nowadays it’s the foreigners who have a real problem with us.

Shirt by Ben Sherman.

ADOLF SCHMIDTLER, 45
Vice: Tell us about being a punk in East Germany. Adolf: I got into punk when I was 20. Getting hold of decent music back then was pretty hard. I listened to the same albums over and over again and knew I had to be a punk. Is there still animosity between the neo-Nazis and the punks? Sometimes things can kick off, but it’s hard to predict. When I decided to stop hanging out with them they would always cause trouble. I was once in a car with some friends and a gang of neo-Nazis recognised me. They surrounded the car and set it on fire. I’ve still got the scar on my arse to prove it. What about the police? We used to get in trouble with the police all the time. We were looking for it as well. Now we know the guys who work our patch and we’re not going to start anything just for the sake of it. So you’re all friends now? Well, we mind our own business. When a friend of ours died of a heroin OD we had the wake on Alexanderplatz. Thirty punks were all gathered together and the police got scared. They came in three vans full of riot police and told us to move on. But our local cop told them to get lost. We were in mourning. You must have been coming here for a long time. I’ve been coming to this same spot every day for nearly 20 years. I only took one break for a couple of years when my ex-wife had our kid.

Boots by Dr. Martens.

UDO, 21
Vice: What’s been happening to punk in Berlin over the last few years? Udo: To be honest, everyone is getting a lot younger. I mean I still hang out at Potse, but it used to be much better. Now it feels more like a youth club for punks. They even got rid of the cloakroom where you could leave your dog. It’s more like a normal bar. So where are the real punks? Well, I don’t think much of British punks, they’re all soft, and they can’t sing either. Russia has the best punks. They make real ska music, stuff you can dance to. Russian’s a rough language and it fits with the idea of punk being aggressive. Now most of the squats are closing down, what do you do for a night out? The best is a bit of speed, plenty of cheap beer and a Russian ska concert. Last time I went to one my friend had some coke so we did three lines each before the gig. When the band came out we were just standing there swaying. I couldn’t even drink my beer. Coke’s shit, you know? You can’t pogo on coke. Udo? That’s a weird name for a punk. My mum liked the German singer Udo Lindenberg, that’s why she called me Udo. My dad hated that. I’m the only punk round here called Udo. Ever get in trouble with the police? I’m on parole at the moment because I’ve been caught on the train too often without a ticket. Oh, and I got done for GBH. If I get in trouble again they’ll lock me up for a year.

Clothes model’s own.

BRAUNER, 23

Vice: So how did you get into punk?

Brauner:

My mum was a punk and she got me into the whole thing. She took me to my first Toxoplasma concert when I was 10. I used to listen to a lot of The Exploited but now I’m into The Business and The Casualties.

That’s an early start.

Yeah, I guess so. When I was 14 I got arrested for the first time. I had to go to prison for two months. We don’t have any problems with the police anymore though. They just let us get on with what we do, which is hanging out, drinking and having fun.

What’s changed since then?

The punk scene in Berlin has got pretty dull over the last few years. A lot of the older punks have given up and the younger guys have moved away or got jobs. Now there are all these pretenders. The worst are the little emo punks, always complaining about how hard they’ve got it. I’m an Oi! punk, which means perversity and having fun.

Tell us about your tattoos.

Most of them I did myself with my own machine I made. The tattoo on my head says “brain fuck”.

Shirt by American Apparel.

DAVE, 32

Vice: Hey, what’s happened to Berlin’s squats?

Dave:

The squats in Berlin are being wiped out. They’re getting closed down by the government. They’ll sell the land to some company and make loads of money from it. That’s how things go.

Is it still hard to get into them?

Getting in if you don’t know people there can be difficult and, of course, if you don’t look the part, you could get yourself in trouble. But most of them still have the older bars, like Köpi or Tommy Weissbecker Haus. They’re just like any other punk bar, except they’ve got a lot more political recently, ever since the government got politics involved.

Where do you hang out then?

Well, most of the young kids with their “punk“ haircuts hang out in Potse, a bar in the west, so now we’ve moved on. But to be honest, we prefer it here on Alexanderplatz. We’ve got own patch and we know everyone who comes through here.

Ever cause trouble?

We’re not a rowdy bunch but if someone starts on us I’ve got nothing against giving them a taste of my boot, if you know what I mean, unless it’s a lady. I don’t fight with ladies, that ain’t right. My dog would go for her though. She’s just like me: she loves her beer too.