STRAZE

STRAZE

STRAZE is a socio-cultural centre in Greifswald, providing space and infrastructure for implementing the needs and filling in the supply gaps open in rural Vorpommern, north-east Germany. It is an independent venue, offering a secure long-term perspective for social, ecological, queer and other progressive initiatives, which in the past notoriously lacked room in the region.

Since opening in the midst of the pandemic in October 2020, STRAZE has grown to be an institution to be reckoned with. From a meeting place for groups of all kinds of civil society interests, an empowering workspace in various DIY fields, to an available stage for all forms of independent art, STRAZE is a valuable space in a region riddled with challenges.

The founding was a conscious decision to enrich and invigorate the area. STRAZE was conceived as a countermeasure to the ongoing shift to the political right and a weakened civil society, compromised by budget cuts and resignations. The vision is to live together and create a basis for economic security and independence through mutual solidarity.

What makes the organisation unique?

STRAZE aims to provide a public space and to reach people in the region, positively impacting society and communal life. It strives for openness and incubation of maximum diversity in terms of the reached community and their unfolding activities. It is a space for experimentation, to test and demonstrate the benefits of more ecological and socially inclusive forms of co-living and co-working. A place where trans-cultural encounters happen and it is possible to find local responses to global challenges. A space for cultural and educational applications to a range of issues, from democracy, human rights, anti-racism, and anti-discrimination to solidarity economics.