Podcast 33: Occupy Wall Street’s German Precursor, the APO
The Occupy Wall Street movement had a precursor in the APO, the student-led protest movement active in the late sixties in West Germany.
April 11, 1968 West Berlin
A young house painter, Joseph Bachmann, waits patiently in the street outside the home of Rudi Dutschke. Dutschke is the firebrand leader of the APO — a leftist movement. In Bachmann’s coat pocket is a gun. Bachmann shoots Dutschke three times, knocking him clean out of his shoes. Dutschke survives his shooting. Immediately following the [read all]
APO
Ausser-Parlianentarische Opposition or Extraparliamentary Opposition The APO was the student-initiated opposition movement in West Germany during the late sixties and early seventies. In many ways it was a product of a unique German trait — a strong desire to associate with political parties. When German students grew disillusioned with the so-called “Grand Coalition” of the two major [read all]