This morning, in the night from Sunday to Monday at appr. 3.45 a.m., a fire broke out in the backyard entrance of Liebig34. Shortly after 4 a.m. the fire brigade arrived, they were able to extinguish the fire completely after about 45 minutes.
The fire endangered the lives of all people living in the house. According to statements by the fire brigade another 15 minutes of unnoticed fire would have been enough to cause a major fire and make parts of the project uninhabitable. The fire went through the ceiling up to the first floor. Most parts of the house are covered in soot and our daily lives are impeded by the damages. Our public spaces thus, XB-Liebig and Infoladen Daneben, are not affected and can be used without constraints.
Cops and press say no one got hurt. Ten people that had to go to the hospital with suspected smoke poisoning show the opposite. Meanwhile all of them have been discharged from hospital again.
We assume, the fire was caused by arson, mainly due to the position of the fire source. Even the cops confirmed this - for sure they were present immediately, even before the fire brigade.
This arson is an attack on a political project. Liebig34 exists for 25 years now, it's a queer and anarcha-feminist house project where no cis-men are living.
We don't know if this attack on our house was performed by nazis, investors, 'enraged citizens' or anyone else. But it fits into the series of increased attacks on political spaces in the last months. For the area near Berlin we want to particularly point out to the nazi attacks around Rigaer Straße, that are hard to top in terms of audacity. And the attack on the office of the kurdish HDP that happenend in the night from Saturday to Sunday and has most likely been carried out by turkish fascists. Nazis and other assholes receive more and more impetus right now, therefore we assess the situation as more and more dangerous for our structures. But it is also important for us not to equate this with racially motivated arson attacks.
Many people already showed their solidarity, thanks for that.
At the moment we cannot see what we will have to repair ourselves. But for sure we will depend on your support. But a significant question is how we all can give an answer collectively.
To get an overview together and exchange information we invite you to a meeting tomorrow, on the 6th October, 5 p.m. in XB-Liebig (U5 Frankfurter Tor or M10 Bersarinplatz).
We won't let that get us down!
Your Liebig34