The Berlin band Beatsteaks will be awarded the special "1Live-Krone" prize this year for their campaigning against the right. With a series of concerts in autonomous youth centers in eastern Germany in spring 2024, the musicians sent a clear signal against growing populism and right-wing extremism and at the same time strengthened local youth culture, according to WDR and its youth radio station 1Live.
The punk rock band visited twelve autonomous youth centers in eastern Germany in the spring - which, according to WDR, was also at locations that symbolize a counter-movement in regions where right-wing motivated crimes have recently increased. The tour was met with headwinds in many places, sometimes even with threats of physical violence from right-wing groups aimed at intimidating the visitors.
The series of concerts in youth centers in cities such as Görlitz, Bautzen, Erfurt and Halberstadt also highlighted the importance of the facilities as potential points of contact for local people.
