Our team consists of 12 consultants employed in full- or part-time positions. The consultants have degrees in, e.g., political science, gender studies, history, social sciences, pedagogy or social work.

In selecting the team members, we consciously chose complementary education and experience profiles to match the broad set of skills and qualifications required for this line of work. As a result, the MBR is professionally prepared for the diverse challenges of the urban space in terms of both content and methodology. Each team member is specialised on (a) specific district(s) of Berlin.

The MBR team is always in close professional exchange with the consultation centres of the other federal states. The MBR therefore not only incorporates approaches from different disciplines, it also develops the concepts further in cross-national exchanges with other consultation centres.

Mobile since 2001
The MBR’s 20-year anniversary

Most right-wing extremists were still wearing combat boots, the fall of the Berlin Wall had only just resulted in a restructuring of the districts and the word racism was avoided at all costs in public discourse: 2001 feels like it was in another era.

It was precisely in this year that the MBR began its work. The year 2001 also marks a turning point in the state-funded confrontation with right-wing extremism and other ideologies of inequality: a shift away from a far too sympathetic treatment of right-wing offenders, intellectual arsonists and enemies of democracy – to support of all those who wish to combat it.

Right-wing extremism, right-wing populism, racism and anti-Semitism have never developed in the “fringes” of society. They are born from its midst. As a result, our work follows the conviction that the threat from the right can only ever become as dangerous as we allow it to become. The respective spaces for these developments in a city such as Berlin are numerous and exist in all nooks and crannies, which is why even seemingly minor activities and actions in everyday life and in civil society can have a major or even significant impact.

In the last 20 years, we have advised, supported, connected and trained many thousands of Berliners by either focusing on their needs and issues or in accordance with our own approach of “observation – interpretation – action”. We consider the joint objective of our work a success if we are able to help people in becoming more confident in their actions and their rhetoric. Our measure of “success” is therefore based on the success of our clients.

For 20 years, we have been working toward making our work superfluous. However, right-wing hostility directed at members of the civil society in the parliaments, an uninhibited centre that protests together with right-wing extremists, an unsolved series of attacks in Neukölln – commitment to a democratic culture remains as necessary as ever in 2021.

Towards a human rights-based democratic culture in Berlin

Successful and sustainable projects are inconceivable without the support of a strong association. The MBR’s umbrella association, the Verein für Demokratische Kultur in Berlin – Initiative für urbane Demokratieentwicklung (VDK) e.V. was founded in August 2003 by representatives of various civic organisations and initiatives. The guiding principles of the VDK e.V. are motivated by a human-rights based democratic culture as the fundamental alternative to right-wing extremism, right-wing populism, racism, anti-Semitism and other sentiments of inequality. The democratic commitment of the VDK projects MBR, RIAS Berlin, Berlin against Nazis and Regishut is demonstrated both in their everyday practical work on location and in their valuable contributions to the political discourse on how to deal with right-wing extremism, right-wing populism, racism and anti-Semitism. The standards developed by the projects often have a signalling character in this tense subject area, both locally and at the state level. The VDK e.V. supports its long-standing projects and sends an essential political signal for united, committed and human rights-oriented coexistence in Berlin.

We need your support to achieve more financial independence and a clearer political positioning. Please donate using the key word “Demokratiearbeit” or “Unterstützung des VDK”!

Direct online donations

Or by bank transfer
VDK e.V.
IBAN: DE10100205000003219601
BIC: BFSWDE33BER
Bank für Sozialwirtschaft

Our association is recognised as a non-profit organisation. Your donation is tax-deductible. If you require a donation receipt, please send us an email.

Board
Timo Reinfrank | Dr. Catharina Schmalstieg

Managing director
Bianca Klose