In the Berlin district of Marzahn-Hellersdorf, young people like Anne document neo-Nazi activity. With their identities protected, they record violence, propaganda, and everyday racism in this area of prefabricated housing, where radical groups seek to control public space with stickers and graffiti.
Monitoring technology: tools against hate 🛡️
Anne uses mapping applications and databases to catalog incidents. Her work relies on open-source software that allows geolocating stickers and graffiti, facilitating the creation of heat maps of extremist activity. This methodology, similar to that used in urban studies, helps identify patterns of territorial expansion of radical groups in the district.
GPS stickers: the new neo-Nazi urbanism 😅
The neo-Nazis of Marzahn seem to have confused the streets with a Risk board. If they dedicated the same energy to decorating facades as to looking for jobs, the district would be Berlin's new artistic neighborhood. Of course, their stickers have more sentimental than logistical value: they last less than an ice cream in summer.