Badischer Bahnhof

Schwarzwaldallee 200, 4058 Basel

By Luca Pfeiffer

Telegram - Far right movements yesterday and today

Just as other major Swiss cities, Basel also had a local branch of the NSDAP. At the beginning, it was quartered in the basements of the Badischer Bahnhof together with the National Socialist sports group. The international railway station was one of the few that remained in operation throughout the Second World War. As one of the few gateways between Nazi Germany and Switzerland, it was a NSDAP outpost, a place of escape for Jews and those of Jewish descent, and a hub for propaganda for and against the German Reich. (Richers 2008, 73)

Figure 1 Badischer Bahnhof during the rule of Nazi Germany. Undated photo available on Verschwunden Basel, https://www.facebook.com/verschwundenesbasel/photos/badischer-bahnhof-in-den- 1930er-jahren-mit-hakenkreuz-flagge/2148087575244276/, accessed 21.11.2021

Officially, the NSDAP only used the underground area for “physical training” - in effect, it was specifically used for martial arts, military training, and firearms training. Then, on 7th December 1941, the NSDAP moved to the middle of the city, making itself more visible. The “German House” at St.Alban-Vorstadt 12 became known colloquially as the “Brown House”. After the Second World War, the house changed owners and users several times. Today it is home to the Christoph Merian Foundation (Wehrli, 2011).

Figure 2 Map of Basel during WW2 with its rail systems and the movement of the NSDAP from the periphery into the city. Map by Luca Pfeiffer

Radicalized right-wing groups are still present in Switzerland today. The Junge Tat, an alliance of young neo-Nazis from Switzerland, sees itself as the successor to the NSDAP. They place sports, environmental protection, and personal freedom at the forefront of their activities. They also maintain strong contacts with extreme right groups from Germany, the Netherlands and France. They often organize joint outings, such as hiking in the mountains, to patriotically appropriate them as their homeland (heimat). The city, on the other hand, they see as a disparaging place, as that is where their ideas of how the world should be are furthest removed from reality (Vogel, 2021).

The Junge Tat no longer relies on international train stations to circulate their ideas, but uses social media: Mail, Threema and Telegram are the channels through which they present themselves. Their Instagram channel however no longer exists, it was deleted by the platform on 1. December 2021.

Figure 3 Screenshot of the Telegram channel of the «Junge Tat»», based on the open Telegram channel of the JT, 22.11.2021

References

Richers, J., Haumann, H., & Petry, E. (2008). Orte der Erinnerung: Menschen und Schauplätze in der Grenzregion Basel 1933–1945 (1., ed.). Merian, Christoph.

Vogel, T. (2021, April 7). Rechtsradikalismus - Junge Neonazis auf dem Vormarsch. Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF). Retrieved 7 January 2022, from https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/rechtsradikalismus-junge-neonazis-auf-dem-vormarsch

Wehrli, A. (2011). Die Nationalsozialisten waren auch in Basel aktiv. BZ Basel. Retrieved 7 January 2022, from

https://www.bzbasel.ch/basel/basel-stadt/die-nationalsozialisten-waren-auch-in-basel