"Es war der Beginn aktiven antirassistischen Widerstands"
A new memorial now honours Ramazan Avcı, a 26-year-old murdered by neo-Nazis in Hamburg nearly 40 years ago. The tribute includes a rose bush, three stone pillars, and a sculpted memorial stone. It stands at the site where Avcı was killed on December 21, 1985, in front of Landwehr S-Bahn station.
The attack on Avcı sparked immediate action. Migrant youths formed self-defence groups and staged protests against racism. On January 11, 1986, over 15,000 people marched in Hamburg, creating one of Germany’s first broad migrant alliances against far-right violence.
The murder also led to lasting change. In 2012, the square where Avcı died was renamed in his memory. Now, the new memorial adds further recognition. One pillar bears the words ‘Rassismus Mordet’ in German and Turkish, while another allows for rotating banners. A third features metal plates, and a rose bush connects to Avcı’s Turkish roots.
Artist Gunter Demnig designed the memorial alongside sculptor Van Ngan Hoang. Their work fulfils demands from an initiative co-founded by Gürsel Yıldırım and Avcı’s family. The group had pushed for the entire street’s renaming and the planting of flowers from Avcı’s hometown.
The memorial serves as a permanent reminder of Avcı’s life and the anti-racist movement his death inspired. It also marks a turning point in migrant activism across Germany. The site will remain a place for reflection and ongoing resistance against far-right violence.
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