Do you want to watch a video of Berliners throwing Molotov cocktails at armored police vans from behind fortified barricades? I thought so.

Welcome back. The scenes from that video turned 30 years old this week. On November 14, 1990, approximately 3000 police from across Germany forcibly evicted several hundred mostly young squatters from 13 buildings along Mainzer Straße, in the eastern district of Friedrichshain.

It was one of the largest street battles in Berlin since the (failed) revolution of 1953, and had repercussions that continue to be felt.

What led to the violent escalation?

Time for DDR-Style ‘Urban Renewal’

By the late 1980s, the buildings in and around Mainzer Straße were in poor shape. Money was tight, building maintenance wasn’t exactly a top priority for DDR officials, and the buildings were literally falling apart.

In keeping with communist ideas of urban renewal, a number of buildings were scheduled to be demolished and replaced with typical with so-called “Plattenbau” structures. By November 1989, residents had been evacuated, so the houses were empty when the Berlin Wall fell and the demolition plans were put on hold.

Squatters move to Mainzer Straße

In April 1990, squatters “moved in” to 13 buildings in and around Mainzer Straße. Like many other similar projects across Berlin, the squatters belonged to various left-leaning political and cultural movements, from gay- and lesbian-led movements to artists and musicians.

In July 1990, however, the East Berlin magistrate decided to implement the so-called “Berlin Line”, which was a policy to evict squatters from buildings as soon as the squat was discovered. From this point, the squatters knew that their eviction was likely only a matter of time.

The Riots

Nonetheless, the squatters decided to defend themselves, using violence if necessary. On November 12th, a number of nearby buildings were cleared by the police. Squatters in Mainzer Straße knew they were next, so they starting building barricades, digging anti-vehicle trenches and arming themselves with rocks and Molotov Cocktails.

Over the next two days, the police tried to force their way into the buildings along the street, but were initially beaten back by barrages of stones and flaming Molotov cocktails. The squatters also blocked a tram on Boxhagenerstr. to prevent armored police vans from approaching from the south.

Eventually, police left their armored vehicles and stormed the street on foot. Beginning at around 6am on 14th November, special-forces troops eventually climbed onto the roofs of the houses, where they roped onto balconies and smashed through windows.

By 8am, most of the buildings had been cleared and the residents evicted. 417 people were arrested and 70 police officers suffered injuries. Nobody was killed.

The Mainzer Straße Evictions were over.

Consequences

Several city politicians resigned their positions following public outcry at the scale of the riots and the use of military-grade force against the squatters. It also led in the following years to most other Berlin-based squat projects to negotiate, rather than fight, with the city. Most ended up signing contracts that legalized the individual projects.

The theme of squatting has never quite disappeared from Berlin, as we have repeatedly seen. Just this past October, another prominent squatted house, Liebig34, was forcibly cleared by police. This time, thankfully, without the Molotov cocktails.