This year, right-wing extremists had to festival with non-alcoholic drinks
At the end of June, the town between Zittau and Görlitz hosted for not the first time the "right-wing" rock festival "Shield and Sword" (Schild und Schwert Festival), which attracts several hundred neo-Nazis. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) calls this event right-wing extremist and monitors it. As reported by "Russkaya Germaniya", this year the fourth consecutive festival with the participation of many groups belonging to the right-wing extremist rock scene was attended by 500 to 600 people.
The organizers expected 750 guests and purchased 4,200 liters of beer for them, but before the concerts began, all the beer supplies prepared for the far-right music festival were confiscated by the police. The authorities of the Görlitz district imposed a ban on the consumption of alcoholic beverages at the "Shield and Sword" festival, citing the "militant-aggressive nature of the event" and considering that beer increases the potential threat of clashes involving right-wing extremists. The ban was also confirmed by the Dresden Administrative Court, after which the beer was seized.
But the residents of Ostritz found the police measures insufficient: the townspeople decided to oppose the right-wingers with their own methods. On the eve of the festival, members of the International Meeting Center of the St. Marienthal Monastery (Internationales Begegnungszentrum des Klosters Sankt Marienthal) carried out a coordinated action, buying up all the beer in the local store so that the right-wing extremists would not get a drop. In total, the residents of Ostritz bought about 120 crates – all the town's supplies. The neo-Nazis only watched as the locals carried the beer out of the only supermarket, loaded it onto a car trailer, and drove it away to an unknown destination.
The protest action was reported by almost all German press and television – from regional newspapers to federal TV channels. As a protest against the right-wing rock festival, several events were held in the city, organized by local democratic initiatives, and a protest demonstration that gathered about 300 people. The action was peaceful: no clashes with neo-Nazis – whether drunk or sober – were recorded. However, their own festival also passed without incidents: there the police confiscated another 200 liters of beer brought by visitors.