Brand attacks in Hamburg: target disks of anger against business elite!

Brand attacks in Hamburg: target disks of anger against business elite!

Groß Flottbek, Hamburg, Deutschland - Last weekend Hamburg was again shaken by arson attacks. In two consecutive nights, three cars burned in Groß Flottbek and the Elbe suburbs, which apparently applied to high -ranking business representatives. The first acts occurred in the night from Friday to Saturday when a Mercedes GLE and a Mercedes-C-class went up in flames at 3:30 a.m. These vehicles were parked on a property that belongs to Karl Gernandt, President of Kühne Holding AG, but the cars belonged to uninvolved. Gernandt himself is currently not living in the affected house because it is rented. According to ZEIT, the perpetrators criticize the plans of Klaus-Michael Kühne to build a new opera in the HafenCity.

The police investigate intensively and checks whether there is a political background behind the acts. In a letter of confession that was published on the Indymedia platform, the crime of the left -wing extremist scene is assigned, and Gernandt is referred to as the "Handlanger" by Kühne. The authors of the letter express sharp criticism of the opera plans, which they classify as an elitist and as a trivialization of colonial offenses. In addition, from Kühne and Gernandt, they are calling for their fortune to the descendants of colonial victims and luxury real estate to emit. These demands reflect a broader dissatisfaction with developments in the city, especially with regard to gentrification and social injustices. The state protection of the State Criminal Police Office also determines to uncover possible connections between the acts.

political background and connections

On Sunday there was another arson attack on the vehicle of the managing director of the armaments supplier Vincorion, Kajetan of Mentzingen. Here the car was made with a "fire set". According to the letter of confession that was associated with this attack, the veteran day played a role. This series of attacks shows an alarming trend that is not new in Hamburg. According to [Junge Freiheit] (https://jungfreifheit.de/politik/deutschland/2019/hamburg-90-pren-der-Brand anklaege-sind-left-motivated/), almost 90 percent of the politically motivated arson attacks have come from a left-wing extremist milieu since 2017. Of 73 cases that were classified as politically motivated, the security authorities assigned 65 of the left -wing extremist scene.

The Hamburg Senate not only has to fight with internal challenges, but is also under pressure from political forces. Dirk Nockemann, chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, speaks of a failure of the governing social democrats and the Greens in dealing with left-wing extremists. He demands that the constitutional state to counteract the problem.

At a time when the gentrification and social injustice arouse concern, the debate about the new opera in Hamburg becomes more intense and controversial. Mayor Peter Tschentscher describes the project as a "stroke of luck and chance" for the city, but the criticism of the realization plans becomes louder. At the same time, the decline of the registered refugees in May shows by 40 percent that social pressure on the city continues to grow.