Gremium Motorcycle Club is a German

outlaw motorcycle club An outlaw motorcycle club is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, ...

. Gremium claims to be the largest German motorcycle club since the patchover of the also formerly Mannheim-based German chapters of the Bones MC to the

Hells Angels MC The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporatio ...

in 1999, with 73 full chapters in Germany, 71 chapters in other European countries, several associate chapters (Bad 7 MC support club) in Germany, and a prospect chapter opened by German

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s in Pattaya, Thailand in 2007. The club was established in 1972 in Mannheim. The club

colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...

are black and white, on the back patch appears the word "GREMIUM" and the name of the country with a fist rising through clouds. Often, the terms "Black Seven" and the number 7 are used: the word "Gremium" consists of seven letters, and "G" is the seventh letter in the alphabet.

Criminal investigations and sanctions

The society as a whole was prohibited on 10 November 1988 by the Ministry of the Interior of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

as a criminal organization. At the time of confrontation with the Mannheim judiciary, the bylaws were closely based on the Mannheim ''

Studentenverbindung (; often referred to as Verbindung) is the umbrella term for many different kinds of fraternity-type associations in German-speaking countries, including Corps, , , , and Catholic fraternities. Worldwide, there are over 1,600 , about a thousan ...

'' (student society or fraternity) "Hermunduria" in which the then President Michael "Mike" Heyer had been a member as a law student. Unaware of its origins, the prosecutor made accusations regarding forming a criminal association in addition to other offences. In subsequent criminal proceedings ordered by the District Court of Mannheim, the prosecution accused certain members of the club of crimes. The prosecutor, whose club informant turned out to be unreliable in court, had the charge of forming a criminal organization then fail. On 16 January 1992, the club ban was lifted by the Administrative Court of Baden-Württemberg. Despite appropriate investigative efforts of the authorities, since it came only to convictions of individual members only and not as a renewed accusation against such a club. Gremium is regularly listed among other large motorcycle clubs, for example in the

Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution The Annual Report on the Protection of the Constitution (german: Verfassungsschutzbericht) is an annual report on the activities of far right, far left, and Islamic extremist circles and on espionage activities in Germany. Gathered on the basis o ...

on Bavaria. In these reports, the body, with other mentioned motorcycle clubs associated with it, is associated with human trafficking, illegal prostitution, drug and/or weapons trafficking and organized crime. According to the German Federal Criminal Police Office in 2010, there were five organized crime investigation with respect to Gremium.

Racing sponsorship

Gremium is a sponsor of the Black 7 Racing Team

top fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 second ...

dragbike Motorcycle drag racing (also known as "sprints") involves two participants lining up at a dragstrip with a signaled starting line. Upon the starting signal, the riders accelerate down a or long, two lane, straight paved track where their elapsed t ...

, along with more traditional corporate sponsors such as DeWalt Tools.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Outlaw motorcycle clubs Motorcycle clubs in Germany 1972 establishments in Germany Organised crime groups in Germany

Criminal investigations and sanctions

Racing sponsorship

References

Further reading

External links