In the early hours of last Sunday morning, a service station in north-east Germany was the setting for what appears to have been a planned attack on a travelling band of St Pauli supporters.
The Saalepiraten — the Saale Pirates — are a St Pauli fan group, with members drawn from Halle, Leipzig and Dessau, three cities in Saxony-Anhalt, all situated on or around the Saale River. The group had made the journey south to the Olympiastadion in Germany’s capital on Saturday to watch their team move to the top of the 2.Bundesliga with a 2-1 victory over Hertha Berlin. When the game finished, they began their coach journey home shortly after 11pm local time.
At around 12.45am, they made the first of their scheduled stops at an Esso garage outside Dessau, a city 50km from Leipzig. Some fans got off the coach as planned and headed towards their cars, others chose to stretch their legs on the garage forecourt. According to supporters — all of whom have been granted anonymity by The Athletic to respect their privacy — between six and eight vehicles then appeared, in addition to three nine-seater minibuses, before a group of masked attackers wearing red and white balaclavas emerged, and descended upon the coach and the supporters nearby. Some were able to escape to their cars parked nearby and others made it back onto the coach.
Another witness believes that an extra wave of attackers appeared from behind the petrol station itself, before surrounding the coach and physically assaulting fans, while shouting “Scheiß Zecken — Scheiß St Pauli (S* ticks — S* St Pauli)”.
St Pauli are arguably the most famous politically left-wing club in Europe and are known as much for their values and ideals as their football. It is not known who the attackers were, but clashes with far-right groups from rival clubs are not unusual. The club’s rivalry with Hansa Rostock, for instance, has periodically been punctuated with violence between St Pauli ultras and a group of right-wing Rostock supporters.
“Zecken” is also a slur with which St Pauli fans are often taunted, at home in Hamburg and beyond. Its literal translation is “tick” but, in English, its implied meaning would be “leech” and, as such, it carries derisory connotations regarding social class and welfare dependency.
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The supporters’ coach, which contained three minors, was surrounded and prevented from moving to safety. According to the witnesses, the masked group also tried to force its doors open, before the police arrived and the attackers scattered, disappearing back to their vehicles. Members of the fan club who escaped the scene later reported being passed by minibuses containing the attackers. Later that night, one of the coaches involved in the attack was later stopped by police at another petrol station, 20km away in Kockern.
In total, three St Pauli fans were injured, suffering bruised and broken ribs. Personal property was also damaged. After statements were made to police, the coach eventually returned to Leipzig at 3am on Sunday morning.
It was a terrifying episode that might have been much worse. One detail that remains unclear, however, is how the attack could have been planned. The Esso garage had been a meeting point for the supporters earlier in the day, but that had not been publicly communicated or posted anywhere online.
Local state police are continuing to investigate and St Pauli have said they are supporting the authorities.
“FC St Pauli learned with great horror that fans of our club were attacked on their journey home to Leipzig after the win at Hertha,” the club added in a statement on Wednesday. At a motorway rest stop in Saxony-Anhalt, unknown people wearing red and white balaclavas apparently attacked their coach in a coordinated manner. At least three people were injured.
“FC St Pauli would like to thank the fans for their fantastic support in Berlin and would like to express its solidarity with those affected. We are supporting the investigation into the attack and are communicating with those affected. You’ll never walk alone!”
(Top photo: Daniel Bockwoldt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
