'Baseball bat years' continue to haunt eastern Germany, 30 years on

'Baseball bat years' continue to haunt eastern Germany, 30 years on Europe

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16:23

Issued on: 24/04/2026 - 17:04

16:23 min Share From the show Reading time 1 min

In the 1990s, just after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former East Germany experienced a wave of far-right racist and political violence. In Germany, this period is known as the "baseball bat years" – a dark period that still haunts the country today. 

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, in the former GDR (German Democratic Republic), skinheads with bomber jackets and combat boots made the headlines. At the time, the German police forces were discredited and the new authorities of reunified Germany were not yet operational in the east. Some young people became radicalised by the far right, attacking migrants, homosexuals and left-wing activists. Across the country, asylum centres were deliberately targeted and dozens of migrants were murdered.  

Thirty years on, the spectre of those dark years is resurfacing. Racist attacks are on the rise again. The courts are trying more and more young people from the neo-Nazi movement. The rise of the far-right AfD party is giving these groups an unexpected platform of legitimacy. For those who grew up in the 1990s, history seems to be repeating itself. 

FRANCE 24’s Anne Mailliet and Nick Holdsworth report. 

By: Anne MAILLIET Nick HOLDSWORTH Advertising Related keywords

• Germany
• racism
• Germany's AfD party
• history
• far right
• neo-Nazis