There has never been a shortage of brutality between the biker gangs Bandidos and Hells Angels. But after 70 members of a Berlin club defected to their erstwhile rivals, police in the German capital are bracing for violence.

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It's only been a few months since a group of Bandidos allegedly ambushed and assaulted a group of Hells Angels, their arch-enemies in the biker gang world, in Finowfurt, a small town northeast of Berlin. Investigators and prosecutors say that at least half a dozen Berlin-based Banditos chased down a group of Hells Angels from the city, resulting in a savage fight. When all was said and done, a gravely wounded Hells Angels hanger-on named Enrico K. was lying on the street -- with an axe in his leg. When the police questioned him about what had happened, he attributed his gruesome wound to "a traffic accident." In the biker system of values, there have always been two constants. One is the sacred "code of silence." The other is the hatred for enemy biker clubs. As such, a recent development in the Berlin biker scene -- first reported by SPIEGEL TV and SPIEGEL ONLINE on Wednesday -- is as unprecedented as it is explosive. A total of 76 members and supporters of "Centro," as the Berlin chapter of the Bandidos is known, are reportedly trying to defect to the Hells Angels camp. Investigators say the would-be defectors have already appeared in public wearing brand-new red-and-white Hells Angels garb, and that they have seen André S., the head of the local Hells Angels club, speaking with members of the rival club. The 45-year-old S. was recently stabbed -- likely by Bandidos. Biker Defection Officials believe that Frank H., the head of the Hell's Angels club in Hanover, hammered out the details of the defection last week with "Centro" leader Kadir P. Likewise, Peter M., one of the highest-ranking Bandidos in Europe, confirmed to SPIEGEL ONLINE that the crossover took place on Tuesday evening. However, when questioned about the matter, Hells Angels member Rudolf "Django" T. declined to confirm that the defectors had been accepted into his organization yet, saying only: "We'll let you know in the next few days." While the defecting members of "Centro" -- both notorious and feared in the biker scene for their violence -- have cut ties with their old group, it appears that their membership in Hells Angels has not yet been finalized. But the bikers have stripped their club house in Berlin's northern Reinickendorf district of all Bandido insignia. Brutal Confrontations Recent months have seen an uptick in violence between the rival motorcycle gangs -- particularly in Berlin, the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein and eastern Germany. And the attacks have been escalating, from knife assaults to shootings to explosives. The reason: the Bandidos have managed to recruit hundreds of young men, many of them from immigrant families in Germany's east, and put the Hells Angels on the defensive. Kadir P's "Centro" chapter has proven particularly brutal in this ongoing feud, and difficult to control. Its members have repeatedly made savage attacks on rivals in the Hells Angels camp, which has close ties to the far-right fan club of a local football club. Indeed, one newspaper article recently reported that the Hells Angels in Berlin refuse to allow foreigners into their ranks.

Source: Bandidos flocking to join Hells Angels - City braces for war