The band’s frontman was a founding member of the now banned right-wing extremist group Skinheads Saxon Switzerland or SSS.

The competition was sponsored by the region’s largest newspaper and a local savings bank. In 1997 a local neo-Nazi band whose lyrics spout anti-Semitism and hate won the top prize for best newcomer band of the year.

The area is not only a center for neo-Nazi protests and violence but also music. In addition, some 250,000 residents live in the region around Pirna, and about one-third of them support right-wing parties and politics. The region is home to one of the country’s largest concentrations of neo-Nazis. The area, known as Saxon Switzerland, boasts 1,000 free-standing sandstone rocks, some 27,000 climbing routes, along with nearly 750 miles (1,200 km) of hiking paths, not to mention mountain and road bike routes and canoe and paddle boat opportunities.īut it’s the political landscape that has affected the group. It’s one of the most stunning places in the country and an outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. It’s been fighting anti-Semitism, right-wing extremism, and racism for 20 years.ĪkuBiZ’s headquarters is in Pirna, some 16 miles (26km) southeast of Dresden, the capital of Saxony, in the former East Germany. The group, which goes by its German acronym, is the Alternative Culture and Education Center.

Not just the geographical landscape, though that helps.

To understand the challenges of AkuBiZ, a tiny organization in the hills of Saxony, it’s best to understand the landscape.

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