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Syndikat reopens: New home for a Neukölln legend

After being forcefully evicted on August 7, 2020, the legendary left-wing bar Syndikat has a new home on Emser Straße 131

The old Syndikat on Weisestraße. Photo: Imago/Große

It’s back! 

Syndikat is no longer just a legend. This sorely missed part of Schillerkiez has reopened in a new location. On January 20, the group which ran the former iconic neighbourhood pub and meeting place acquired the Laika pub, aka the new Syndikat – though some of that bar’s workforce will remain and work together with the four-person Syndikat crew. 

it won’t be loud until 9 in the morning – just till 5

According to a report in the taz, the new Syndikat at Emser Straße 131 will be open every day, but it won’t be exactly the same. There will be a new, large smoking room and, unlike the former bar, it won’t be loud until 9 in the morning – just till 5…

From #SyndikatBleibt to #SyndikatLebt

In 2020, the old Syndikat bar was evicted by police, which brought heavy protests to the streets of its Schillerkiez neighbourhood. The Emser Straße 131 location will hope to bring some of that same spirit. There will be political events, film screening, talks and other similar events held at the community gathering space and bar.

Photo: IMAGO / Emmanuele Contini

The rooms of the former Syndikat bar on Weisestrasse remain empty today

The huge police presence brought to evict the original Syndikat bar on August 7, 2020 was criticised at the time – with Die Linke and Green politicians commenting on the “arbitrary police violence” (as if someone else had ordered the eviction). The bar had been a part of the community for more than 35 years and served as an important left-wing meeting place in Berlin, with many local residents describing it as a second living room in an area where rents had become uncomfortably expensive. 

William Pears Group: The billionaire landlords

So what was behind the original eviction? Property speculation, of course. A global property company worth billions of euros called the William Pears Group bought the property through a shell company in 2018, and gave Syndikat its notice in September of that year. Supporters of the bar found the true identity of its new landlord through the Panama Papers leak. The company owns at least 3,000 apartments in Berlin, but they don’t seem to want anyone to live in them. The rooms of the former Syndikat bar on Weisestrasse remain empty today.