‘The East’ strikes back. Ultras Dynamo, hyper-stylization, and regimes of truth

Abstract

This case study deals with Ultras Dynamo, the leading group in the active fan scene of Eastern German (the term Eastern Germany is used within this paper to refer to the territory on which the GDR existed from 1949 to 1990; it entails the federal states Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Thuringia and the eastern part of Berlin) side SG Dynamo Dresden (throughout the paper, the club’s full name ‘Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden’ will be shortened using either Dynamo Dresden or simply Dynamo. Among the fans, the club is mostly called SGD (abbreviation of Sport[G]emeinschaft Dynamo) which is also used on flags, banners and in fan chants). The paper analyses styles of self-representation of the active fan scene at Dynamo and critically analyses the claim made by the group to being apolitical. The process of collective identity construction is linked to media images of the group and a ‘regime of truth’ is identified: a self-sustaining and interdependent cycle which overarches the process of image- and identity-construction at Dynamo Dresden and which can be traced back to processes of labelling, stigmatization and secondary deviance.

Notes

1. President of the union of the police force of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia, qtd. in WDR (2014).

2. A survey linked in the same article asked the readers whether Dynamo should indeed be excluded from the league. The result was that 73% of the readers opted with ‘yes’ (cf. ibid.). However, it has to be pointed out that the news paper is a very regional or even local one.

3. Exemplarily see: Lohse (2012), MDR (2015), Spiegel TV (2012) and WDR (2012, 2014).

4. As media reports indicate, this massive violent outbreak was also caused by hooligans who came from all over Germany, most notably Hamburg (cf. Sport Journal 1991). The match in Dresden was declared to be revenge for what had happened in Belgrade (cf. Sport Journal 1991).

5. The sell-out of the most successful GDR teams to West German teams, most notably Bayer 04 Leverkusen, changed the balance of power among the former GDR football teams dramatically, even making then chancellor Helmut Kohl intervene. It is one of the reasons formerly less known and less successful clubs have become the representatives of Eastern German football teams in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga for some years, e.g. Energie Cottbus, Hansa Rostock or Erzgebirge Aue. Since the 2009/2010 season, no team from Eastern Germany has competed in the 1st Bundesliga; in the 2005/2006 season this was the case as well.

6. The club never reached a top ten position from 1991 to 1992 till the relegation in 1994/1995.

7. 1995 this equalized about £4,4 million.

8. The term ‘active scene’ is used by UD and entails the group itself and those fans and fan groups who partake in chanting and the visual display of the club during matches (with banners and flags) but are not necessarily members of UD. There is no membership number of UD available, core members of the group are estimated to count about 30–50 people.

9. Oberliga was also the term for the highest level of the league pyramid in the football system of the GDR. Thus, the chant refers both to the club’s successful GDR past as well as to the absolute low point interms of sportive success from 2000 to 2002.

10. While right-wing extremism and hooliganism are associations made with almost all clubs from Estern Germany, it was in fact BFC Dynamo Berlin which was the club of GDR’s secret service – the Staatssicherheit (Stasi). Dynamo Dresden was affiliated to the GDR’s police force (Volkspolizei). For a historical overview on the concept of Dynamo-sport centres and networks during the times of the Soviet Union, see Edelmann, Hilbrenner, and Brownell (2014, 603 pp.) and Collins (2013, 100 pp.). For an analysis of the GDR sport system and its football clubs: Anderson (2011).

11. Stefan Lehmann, Capo of UD, qtd. in: Dynamofan TV (2012). The Capo is the main figure and in most cases also the ‘conductor’ of an ultras group. In the case of UD, Stefan Lehmann is known by his nickname ‘Lehmi’.

12. CEO of Arminia Bielefeld, quoted in: Neue Westfälische, 07 December 2013.

13. Group names which contain ‘Commando’, ‘Brigade’, ‘Bande’, or ‘Inferno’ are especially popular in German and international ultras groups.

14. This is complemented by a banner from FK Sarajevo, to which’s Horde Zla (transl. hordes of evil) UD have built up a friendship since 2012. Members of both groups regularly pay visit to matches of the other team. The same accounts for the friendship with Red Kaos.

15. The German expression Tal der Ahnungslosen was applied to GDR citizens living in the north-east and – primarily – in the south-east, especially in the area of Dresden. The term refers to the detachedness of these areas from the general information stream as it was impossible to receive terrestrial Western television or radio.

16. transl. Fiorentina of the Elbe.

17. Stefan Lehmann, Capo of UD qtd. in: Dynamofan TV (2012).

18. For the wider issue of an apoliticization of sport stadiums see Guschwan, ‘Stadium as public sphere’.

19. Still, the diversity of Ultrà-groups is enormous and does thus not allow for generalization. As mentioned earlier, the political affiliations differ vastly from group to group and ask for a differentiated, case-to-case analysis. The scenes in Aachen, Braunschweig and Düssledorf in particular have found themselves in severe struggles about political cleavages.

20. The club played as 1. FC Dynamo Dresden from 1990 to 2007 and sported a green/white emblem instead of thetraditional claret/white emblem from 1990 to 2002. In 2011 the whole emblem was redesigned in the style of theclub’s emblem from 1968 to 1990.

21. Orig. ‘Der Verein SG Dynamo Dresden und die Fans stehen aktiv gegen Rassismus, Fremdenfeindlichkeit und Diskriminierung (aufgrund ethnischer Zugehörigkeit, religiöser und sexueller Orientierungen sowie körperlicher und geistiger Beeinträchtigung) innerhalb und außerhalb des Stadions ein.’ (Dynamo Dresden 2015, Section 1.2).

22. transl. black-yellow help.

23. transl. black-red help.

24. Acronym for the slogan ‘all cops are bastards’. Referring to the position of the letters in the alphabet, this slogan is also codified as ‘1312’.

25. transl. lying press.

26. Acronym for what transl. Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident – a movement comparable to the English Defence League which has its starting point and highest mobilizing potential in Dresden.

27. E.g. the anti-homophobic choreography by queer fan club ‘Meenzelmänner’, which was supported by the Ultras of FSV Mainz 05. With regards to right-wing extremism see numerous banderol displays by the Ultrà groups ‘The Unity’, ‘Schickeria’ or ‘Ultrà Sankt Pauli’ at Borussia Dortmund, FC Bayern München and FC St Pauli, respectively.

28. transl. Fist of the East.

29. German orig.: ‘Egal ob jung oder alt, was zählt ist der Zusammenhalt’.

30. Antiziganism remains to be a problem until today.

31. Displayed during the away game in Babelsberg in the 2010/2011 season.

32. Displayed during the home game against St. Pauli in the 2011/2012 season. The banderol was later stolen and presented by women from USP on the website in typical Ultrà-style: The women held burning flares and – ironically – kitchen utensils.

33. Folkloristic elements draw on the variety of shared cultural experiences present within the collective memory of a society or community (cf. Cohen, [1972] 2002 55–56, 66).

34. The slogan ‘Bomber Harris – Do it Again’ is popular among the left-extremist scene in Dresden who.

criticises the annual ‘victimization’ of the casuals of the bombing raids in February 1945.

35. Femen are a feminist group who appear in public places usually with their torso stripped naked and political messages written on them. Usually, sites for appearance are chosen due to their potential to cause civil unrest.

36. A similar action had already taken place a year ago: cf. Reinbold,’Hickhack um Protestaktion’.

37. Orig.: ‘Do it again: Femen-Fotzen das Arschloch mit Wichse zubomben!!’.

38. Although the banner was not signed with ‘UD’ but with the signature of a smaller fan group it still represented the active fan scene in the moment it was lifted and is featured on the website of UD.

39. Similar observations were made in Leipzig and other cities where Pegida-equivalent demonstrations have been held. Hooligan groups from the local football club act as demonstration security and keep opposing demonstrators and members of the press at a distance (cf. Sundermeyer 2015b; Völker 2015). Although club policies forbid the use of the club emblem and memorabilia in political contexts, the club has not criticised the appearance of Dynamo fan merchandise in the crowds of Pegida demonstrations – much in contrast to other clubs confronted with the same issue (e.g. FC Lokomotive Leipzig). In addition, the club has encouraged a dialogue with the Pegida movement – arguably to not alienate any of the opposing factions, knowing well about the ‘mind-set’ of some of the stadium visitors (cf. Ruf 2015). Interestingly, UD positively recall the organised flood help by the active fan scene in 2013 in their video for the 2013/2014 season (cf. Dynamofan TV 2013). The ‘flood help’ allegedly built networks and tied knots between cadres of the right-wing movement and served as a starting point for the Pegida-movement (cf. Sundermeyer 2015b).

40. Transl. ‘Schwarzer Hals, gelbe Finger wir sind die Assis vom Dresdner Zwinger’. The Dresdner Zwinger is a sight-seeing monument in Dresden.

41. Cf. Foucault (1980).

42. Former CEO of Bayer Leverkusen and voluntary advisor to Dynamo Dresden in 2010, quoted in: Neues Deutschland, 18 October 2010.

43. Etzioni (2001, 93).