Neo-Nazi marches in Dresden and left-wing groups had been relatively weak for years. With the emergence of the "Dresden Nazifrei" alliance (Dresden without Nazis), the Nazi march was blocked from marching for the first time in 2010 by thousands of demonstrators, again in 2011 and prevented entirely in 2012. While part of East Germany, Dresden was in the so-called "valley of the clueless" ("Tal der Ahnungslosen"), with its citizens out of the reach of the Western radio and television that citizens elsewhere in the East were able to listen to illegally. Dresden continued to be different after the German reunification; while most states in
Neo-Nazi marches in Dresden police force had done too little effort to guarantee the Nazis their constitutionally provided right to assemble and demonstrate. The police announced a strict strategy of separation. In this tenuous atmosphere "Dresden Nazifrei" insisted on their plan to blockade. It mobilized mostly against the big national Nazi-march which was scheduled for the week after 13 February. While "Dresden Nazifrei" had internally debated how to intervene against the prevailing myth of Dresden in 2010, it organized a tour guided by historians to the places of former national-socialist leaders and institutions that worked in Dresden on the morning of 13 February 2011.