{"id":16187,"date":"2025-04-22T19:33:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T17:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=16187"},"modified":"2025-04-24T11:43:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T09:43:54","slug":"spati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/16187\/spati\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the counter: Berlins Sp\u00e4tis and the rise of the AFD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At almost every corner you turn, every street you walk, in Germany\u2019s capital Berlin you are met with a Sp\u00e4ti. With over 1000s of these shops in Berlin comes a lot of culture. According to an article published by the German publication TAZ, over 90% of these stores are run by immigrant families, mainly from T\u00fcrkiye and of Kurdish descent. At the same time right-winged political party AFD (Alternative fur Deutschland) are gaining popularity. The party has strong views on \u2018remigration\u2019 – what could this mean for the culture of Berlin Sp\u00e4tis?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI would say for a long time now they [AFD] have been a threat for democracy. Elites, and not only radical right parties, but mainstream elites, have been pretty much instrumentalizing democracy. AFD has been particularly strong in this sense. I mean, with this idea about re-migration.\u201d says Dr. Andrej Zaslove, associate professor of comparative politics, Radboud University Nijmegen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derived from the original word \u201cSp\u00e4tkauf\u201d, which translates to late shops, Sp\u00e4tis are a convenient place for people to meet, grab a cheap beer, or a late-night snack. These establishments go back to GDR (German Democratic Republic) times. After it collapsed in 1990, many migrants who previously worked in factories lost their jobs. Following this, many of them went on to open Sp\u00e4tis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n