Hansa Rostock football fans caused a racist scandal in the game against FC St. Pauli with choreography in their own stadium. The choreo was a reference to xenophobic attacks in Rostock-Lichtenhagen in 1992.
The banner on the south curve of the Hansa Rostock supporters showed the prefabricated building with the so-called sunflower house in the Lichtenhagen district. The Ultras also lit orange Bengalos and black smoke pots. This created the visual impression that the well-known prefabricated building in the Lichtenhagen district was on fire.
Racists carried out an arson attack on the Sunflower House in 1992. Many Vietnamese and Roma lived in this house at the time. Hundreds of people were injured – one of the largest racist attacks in post-war German history.
Hansa justifies choreography
“The choreography was carried out on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the fan group ‘Plattenbau Rostock’ (‘PBR’ for short),” explained Hansa about the campaign. The group has been active in the Hansa fan scene for many years and has never attracted attention through any actions or statements. “which were or are not compatible with the values of FC Hansa”.
The message continued: “The members are at home in the GDR-typical prefabricated buildings in the north-west of Rostock and still feel closely connected to them, hence the name of the fan group ‘Plattenbau Rostock’. The choreo shows not only the ‘Sunflower House’, but also other prefabricated buildings .”
Of course there is agreement that “The terrible events of 1992 are to be condemned with the utmost severity and in no way glorified. The fan scene has recently clearly positioned itself once again in its scene magazine”the club continued.
St. Pauli clearly criticizes Aktion via X
FC St. Pauli classified the action differently: “The choreo with the sunflower house in Lichtenhagen works according to a well-known pattern. So people repeatedly flirt with ambiguities in order to attract public attention and outrage with certain symbolism – and to make themselves comfortable with criticism “To be able to duck away or even portray you as a victim,” wrote FC St. Pauli on Sunday on “X” (formerly Twitter). “There should be no ambiguity when it comes to such important issues; we need clear positions for humanity.”
Basic dislike from both fan camps
The duels between Hansa Rostock and FC St. Pauli are traditionally heated and intense. Both fan camps have a fundamental dislike for each other, and the security presence in the Baltic Sea city was correspondingly large on Saturday (November 25th, 2023). The northern duel was classified as a high-risk game.
Again and again abnormalities between Rostock and St. Pauli
Rostock fans have already been negative in the past noticed in games against FC St. Pauli, whose fans clearly oppose racism, anti-Semitism and any form of discrimination. On August 21, 2022, around the 30th anniversary of the attacks, they presented a large “Lichtenhagen” fence flag with the sunflower symbol. The DFB then imposed a fine on Hansa.
Two children injured after game
After the game there were riots in which two children were slightly injured. The police announced this in a press release. The previously unknown perpetrators from a group of 100 people threw stones at emergency vehicles and damaged a private car and damaged it.
“In the car, two children aged twelve and two were slightly injured by broken glass,” said the police report. The police filed a criminal complaint on suspicion of a serious breach of the peace.