Which organized crime groups are the strongest in Germany at the moment ? Also would it still be accurate to state that indigenous German organized crime ( as represented by f.ex the Ringvereine associations ) no longer exists in Germany ?
Depends on what you mean with "strongest" and on the region. The Ndrangheta is said to control the majority of the cocain trade in germany. Arab Clans are pretty strong in bigger cities (Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen etc). They are concentrated in west germany and number a few thousand members, although not every member of a clan is a criminal. Same goes for turkish OC. Biker gangs are strong in terms of men power and are also present in east germany. interestingly there is a pretty big strong lithuanian OC in germany, which comprises 11% of all arrests of OC suspects in germany.
Native german OC like the Ringervereine are no longer active. They were very active in the 20s-30s until the Nazis wiped them out. Some went to prison or konzentrationslager as Berufsverbrecher, some went to the army and others fled. After the war they reorganized as Sparvereine or Kegelvereine. Ringervereine in the the beginning were just "official" associations of delinquents. They filled out forms and were registered just like mormal sport clubs. They had their club traditions, statuts and club meetings. After the war there was a trend in germany to go to pubs and save some money by puting some money in "piggy bank" each time you were going for a drink.The barkeeper would watch over the money and at the end of the year it was counted and everyone got their savings payed out. Ringvereine named themselvs "Sparvereine" (Spar=save; Verein= club) or Kegelvereine (Kegel=sport similiar to bowling) after the war and tried to carry on their activities, but had problems with police pressure and a generel lack of former members to carry on the tradition.
