Organized crime in Weimar Berlin

 

Cover of a book about ring clubs by Regina Stürickow (2018)

One of the themes of Season 4 of the excellent TV-series Babylon Berlin is the fight between rivalling gangs, two of them called Berolina and Nordpiraten. These are fictional names, neither Berolina (Berlin’s latin name) or Nordpiraten (the pirates of the north, meaning the northern suburbs of Wedding and Moabit) existed. But the gangs in 1920s and 1930s Berlin were a very real phenomenon.

"The entire amusement industry in Berlin is organized by clubs known as Ringvereine (ring clubs), at least the part of it primarily aimed at tourists", wrote the respected newspaper Vossische Zeitung at the beginning of January 1929.

Tourists flocked to the German capital in large numbers, not only from the German provinces but also from abroad. Berlin, at that time the third-biggest city in the world, was considered the quintessential babel of sin. And where there is sin there is also big money. And big money always interests the underworld. Berlin’s underworld was ruled by the tightly organized "ring clubs".

A few days before the article was published, an event that shocked Berliners had occurred near the Schlesischer Bahnhof, today's Ostbahnhof in Berlin-Friedrichshain. On the evening of December 28, there was a fight between around 40 carpenters from Hamburg and members of a Ringverein called Immertreu in a bar near the train station. Not only had there been black eyes, swollen lips and broken ribs on both sides, but also a dead man, a youth just 18 years old. He was a member of a club called Gesangverein Nord or Northern singing association (!).

Apparently, the Hamburgers, who were working on the construction of the new subway line Gesundbrunnen-Leinestraße, didn’t show the necessary respect to the Immertreu club (see below more info about this club). They needed a lesson, esteemed Adolf Leib aka Muscle Adolf, the club’s leader. Hence the row. Attacked, the Hamburgers retreated to another pub by order of the police, who could do little to protect them. A serious mistake, as it soon turned out, because now they were trapped; the Berliners called together more "forces", including members of fellow clubs, and attacked the Hamburgers. The infamous "Battle at the Schlesischer Bahnhof" ensued, during which not only knives, batons, iron bars, hammers and other tools were used, but also fire weapons. The next day, the police counted around 100 cartridge cases at the scene of the crime. 

Members of the Immertreu club

Due to the wide press coverage, many Berliners realized what had been developing underground for decades: a tightly organized system of ring clubs. There were over 60 of them, with at least 1000 members. The Vossische Zeitung even spoke of 5000 members. These "club brothers” were all criminals—pimps, thieves, scammers, and more. They could only become a member if they could “legitimize” themselves by proving that they had been in prison. Sometimes they obtained the necessary documents directly from the police. As a sign of their membership in one of the clubs, they wore a signet ring - hence the name "Ring Club". 

 

An outing with brothers. Picture from the book by Regina Stürickow

These clubs liked to give themselves harmless names. There was the Geselligkeits-Club Immertreu 1919 e.V meaning "Social club Always faithful". (the letters e. V. stand for "eingetragener Verein", meaning "non-profit association"). This club was founded in 1919 and its motto was "Laß Neider neiden, Hasser hassen. Was Gott uns gönnt, muß man uns lassen". A free translation would be "Let the envious envy, the haters hate. As for us, let us enjoy what God has given us". Of course, it is arguable whether it was really God who had given them their bars, brothels and other profitable establishments. Other clubs were Deutsche Eiche (German oak), Sparverein (Savings Association), Libelle (Dragonfly) and Apachenblut (Apache blood, probably a reference to the Paris gangs known as "apaches" around 1900).

When the first ring clubs were founded around 1890, they did have a social function, for they were communities of ex-convicts who helped each other in times of need. But by 1928 the clubs had long since moved far away from that. They were considered efficient criminal organizations reminiscent of the Chicago mafia. Above all, but not only, they controlled Berlin's entertainment industry. Almost every waiter, barman and porter, shoeshine boy and toilet attendant was connected to them in some way. This also applied to prostitutes: those girls were protected by the "brothers" and thanked them with regular contributions. Prostitution was one of the most important sources of income for the clubs. In the 1920s, the original idea of helping fallen men to help each other had turned into a widespread organized crime.

At a masked ball of a club called Südost

There was competition between the clubs, but they always stuck together when dealing with the police. They were run by a - well paid - "managing director", who usually had his office in one of the club's hangouts. These men gave themselves fancy names like Cavalier Fritze or Jeweller Paul. The most famous of these underworld bosses was Immertreu’s "Muscle Adolf", who also took part in the Battle of Schlesischer Bahnhof. His real name was Adolf Leib and he was born in 1900. After the battle at Schlesischer Bahnhof, he was caught by the police and put on trial. But now the clubs showed what was one of their most important functions : they prevented Leib's conviction through mass false testimonies. The clubs and the brothers stuck together against the police.

A couple of women from the trade under the leadership of Hulda Spindler, Muscle Adolf’s girlfriend known as "Aktien-Mieze", paid one of the most well-known lawyers, Erich Frey, to defend Adolf. The five-day trial began on February 4, 1929, at the Moabit Criminal Court. At the beginning, public sympathy went to the carpenters, honest workers who had been assaulted by criminals. But Erich Frey, aided by three colleagues, succeeded in drawing sympathy away from the craftsmen to the side of the criminals by consistently playing down the ring associations. 

The trial

The trial became a farce. Nobody had seen anything, because "it was too dark". The few who were willing to testify were portrayed by the lawyers as untrustworthy. All main incriminating witnesses against "Immertreu" fell down and were rewarded by the brothers with 300 Reichsmark each. When Erich Frey's fur coat was stolen during the trial, he used this to make a grotesque glorification of the Immertreuen: "You see, Judge, such thefts would not occur if the club brothers were allowed. They have prevented such things." Some months later, Frey received a package: in it a valuable fur coat with the message, "Honestly lost, honestly recovered. Greetings from Aktien-Mieze"

Muscle Adolf could only be sentenced to a ten-month suspended sentence as there was no evidence against him - nobody had seen him or could remember that he did more than passively watch the brawl.

The then famous writer Artur Landauer was a kind of press spokesman for the clubs. He tried, not without success, to present the clubs to the public as completely harmless. The brothers only met to do sports or to exchange ideas - what could be wrong with that?

The ring clubs did enjoy good contacts in police and political circles. Celebrities always came to the big annual balls organized by the brothers. And the police had only a limited interest in busting the wrestling clubs, because they had a principle that suited police work: murderers and child molesters were not only not accepted, but hunted down and, if possible, handed over to the police.

From "M", by Fritz Lang

These activities became world famous in 1931 through a film, the mystery suspense thriller "M - A City in Search of a Murderer" by director Fritz Lang. Muskel-Adolf acted as Lang's "adviser" for that film. That was an advice that Lang couldn't refuse and he had to pay for it. Besides, some of the "actors" were real club brothers.

Since it was not possible to fight all criminals at the same time, the authorities abandoned the pursuit of some in order to use their help to catch the others. In the 1920s and early 1930s, the police and judiciary did not take vehement action against the ring clubs, but this changed when the Nazis came to power. Many of the ring brothers ended up in concentration camps. That's what happened to Muscle Adolf. He was arrested by the Gestapo at the beginning of 1934 - since then his traces have been lost



Some of the information above comes from an article by Armin Fuhrer, FOCUS-online, 2018