36 Boys

The 36 Boys were a gang of youths from Berlin- Kreuzberg.

The band was at the end of the 1980s active until the mid- 1990s. In addition to Turkish and Kurdish youths, other nationalities were represented in the more than 100 people large group. The area in which the gang operated, was the area around the Kottbusser gate to the residential areas between the Naunynstraße and Waldemarstrasse, as well as to Görlitz Station. Named has the gang as other gangs such as in Neukölln after the former Berlin postal district Berlin SO 36 The idea for the name came from Maxim, a co-founder of the Berlin rap scene, who was stabbed by a pensioner in 2003. Maxim founded the 36 Boys originally as a hip -hop crew.

Beginning of the 1990s, the group delivered turf wars with neo-Nazis and skinheads, some of which were held in the park of the Virgin Heath. Other rival gangs were the Warriors from the Silesian Gate and the Black Panthers from Wedding. During the May riots in Kreuzberg, the 36 boys joined at the beginning of the autonomous, an alliance that did not stop because of the lack of political direction of the Group long. The graffiti of the 36 boys were distributed throughout Berlin. In Kreuzberg they also served to mark the terrain. In addition to the 36 Boys, there was the " 36 Juniors ", which attracted attention because of a higher potential for violence.

After the dissolution

The Berlin Senate in 2007 former members of the 36 boys hired as a " neighborhood runner" that help in Kreuzberg to be preventive measures are taken against juvenile delinquency. The area around the Naunynstraße, in which they have their center of gravity, was referred by the Senate as a no - go area. After the dissolution of the former band members went different ways. Some stayed in the criminal milieu, others like the chef Tim Raue - Gault Millau - they turned to civil careers. Still others work as a social worker in neighborhood projects and youth centers. The former member Sinan Tosun has opened near the Kottbusser gate a shop where he sells clothing with a logo " 36 Boys". The brother of Sinan, Muzaffer Tosun, professional boxer in the light welterweight, was also a member of the 36 Boys, the rapper Killa Hakan, as well as, or in the precursor group 36s, the film writer and director Neco Çelik.

In the media, the gang is described as a prototypical "gear " with an immigrant background.