Schwarze Risse

Schwarze Risse is a bookstore located in the Mehringhof, an alternative cultural centre in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. The shop was founded without a name in 1980 and has operated under the name "Schwarze Risse" since 1984. It is organised as a non-hierarchical collective and has the legal form of a GmbH (limited liability company). It specialises in left-wing and radical political literature and, in addition to books, offers more than 40 left-wing magazines and pamphlets that, according to the shop, cannot be bought at newsstands. The bookstore regularly hosts readings and other events with authors and activists. From 2002 until the end of March 2012, the collective also ran a bookstore of the same name on Kastanienallee in the Prenzlauer Berg district. In April 2012, for organisational reasons, the collective split amicably into two collectives; the Mehringhof shop kept the name "Schwarze Risse", while the Kastanienallee shop was run independently by a new collective and renamed "Buchhandlung zur schwankenden Weltkugel" (Bookstore at the Swaying Globe). Schwarze Risse has repeatedly been the target of police and public prosecutor raids, particularly around the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm and in investigations begun in 2010 over the display of radical left-wing publications. These proceedings were terminated in June 2011. In the 1980s, publishing activities emerged around Schwarze Risse. After a nationwide search of left-wing bookstores in 1987, Schwarze Risse, the Buchladen Rote Straße in Göttingen and the Buchladen Kleine Freiheit in Gießen jointly set up a publishing and distribution project. In 2001, the resulting Berlin publisher Schwarze Risse merged with the Hamburg libertarian association publisher Libertäre Assoziation to form the publisher Assoziation A, which continues to exist as a registered association with addresses in Berlin and Hamburg. The Berlin office, like the bookstore, is located in the Mehringhof. Assoziation A mainly publishes political non-fiction within the non-dogmatic left, on topics including anti-fascism, resistance, migration, left-wing history and social movements.

Schwarze Risse was founded in 1980 as an unnamed bookshop in the Mehringhof, an alternative cultural centre in Berlin-Kreuzberg. It adopted the name Schwarze Risse in 1984. The shop is organised as a collective without hierarchical structures and operates as a GmbH. From 2002 to the end of March 2012, the collective also ran a second bookshop under the same name on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg. In April 2012, the collective split amicably into two collectives for organisational reasons; the Mehringhof shop kept the name Schwarze Risse, while the Kastanienallee shop became independent and was renamed Buchhandlung zur schwankenden Weltkugel. A press statement explained: 'Zwei Läden und sechs Leute in einem Kollektiv zusammenzuhalten ging nicht mehr, deshalb geben wir nach und konzentrieren uns in Zukunft in bewährter Besetzung auf jeweils einen linken Buchladen' (Holding two shops and six people together in one collective was no longer possible, so we give in and will concentrate in the future, with proven staffing, on one left-wing bookshop each). Publishing activities emerged from the milieu of the Schwarze Risse bookshop in the 1980s. After a nationwide raid on left-wing bookshops in 1987, Schwarze Risse, Buchladen Rote Straße in Göttingen, and Buchladen Kleine Freiheit in Gießen formed a joint publishing and distribution project. In 2001, the resulting Berlin publisher Schwarze Risse merged with the Hamburg publisher Libertäre Assoziation to form Verlag Assoziation A. Assoziation A continues as a registered association with addresses in Berlin and Hamburg. The Berlin publishing house is located in the Mehringhof, like the bookshop. Reiner Wendling, who was already involved in earlier Schwarze Risse activities, is named as the authorised board member of Assoziation A. The publisher mainly releases political non-fiction from the spectrum of the undogmatic left, including on anti-fascism, resistance, migration, left-wing history, and social movements. The bookshop's assortment includes books and more than 40 left-wing magazines and brochures that, according to the shop, are not available at kiosks. Schwarze Risse regularly organises readings and other events. Guests over the years have included Gerhard Hanloser, Ulrike Heider, Doğan Akhanlı, Gabriele Dietze, Detlef Hartmann, Luiz Ruffato, Bernd Langer, Uri Gordon, Gisela Notz, Markus Wissen, Ralf Ruckus, José Ovejero, Renate Hürtgen, Maha El Hissy, and many others. The two shops were repeatedly targets of raids by the Federal Criminal Police Office, the public prosecutor's office, and the police. In the run-up to the demonstrations against the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm, searches were conducted for specific books and magazines, including the underground magazine Interim, and found copies were confiscated. The raid was later declared unlawful. Starting in January 2010, the Berlin public prosecutor's office investigated Schwarze Risse and two other Berlin shops on suspicion of, among other things, instructions for criminal acts. The trigger was the display of publications from the radical left, in particular five issues of Interim and the one-off publication Prisma in the affected shops. During the investigations, there were repeated searches and confiscations in both Schwarze Risse locations. The shops saw these proceedings as an attempt by the Berlin prosecutor's office to revise previous case law, which assumes that booksellers have too few control options to assess the legality of the content of the books and magazines they offer. In response to the proceedings, a solidarity initiative called Unzensiert lesen (Reading Uncensored) formed, demanding the 'immediate discontinuation of the proceedings against the Berlin booksellers'. In June 2011, the proceedings were discontinued.

• 2012

  The collective splits; the Kastanienallee shop becomes independent and is renamed Buchhandlung zur schwankenden Weltkugel.

• 2011

  Proceedings against the bookshops are discontinued in June.

• 2010

  Berlin public prosecutor's office begins investigations against Schwarze Risse and two other shops over the display of radical left publications.

• 2007

  Raids in connection with the G8 summit in Heiligendamm; the raid is later declared unlawful.

• 2002

  A second bookshop under the same name opens on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg.

• 2001

  Berlin publisher Schwarze Risse merges with Hamburg publisher Libertäre Assoziation to form Verlag Assoziation A.

• 1987

  After a nationwide raid on left-wing bookshops, Schwarze Risse, Buchladen Rote Straße, and Buchladen Kleine Freiheit form a joint publishing and distribution project.

• 1984

  Shop begins operating under the name Schwarze Risse.

• 1980

  Bookshop founded without a name in the Mehringhof, Berlin-Kreuzberg.

A left-wing collective bookshop specialising in radical political literature and grassroots events.

• Books

• Left-wing magazines and brochures (over 40 titles)

• Political non-fiction from Verlag Assoziation A

1. 1Schwarze Risse – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
2. 2Schwarze Risse – Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Schwarze Risse websiteschwarzerisse.de