Life Is Not a Game of Dice - When a Hells Angel Met a Social Worker
Here, a social worker (that would be me) talks to Andi Gmeiner, co-founder of motorcycle club "Unicorns" and former Hells Angel. This is a conversation about our first meeting, the rebellion of past generations, community, and philosophical insights.
Andi Gmeiner and I have known each other for about 25 years.
"Are you a reporter now? I thought you were a social worker."
"This is my hobby."
"Do you still not know what you want to be? Now you're almost 50. And you're still studying too."
"Philosophy. Not a few philosophers were something like outlaws: Diogenes, Henry David Thoreau, Alan Watts, etc."
"You're out of your mind. What do you even want to do here?"
Andi looks at my young daughter, who has come along to get a close-up view of a "Hells Angel," especially his angel wings tattoo, which she wanted to see. The last time, she was five when she met Andi at the fun fair and he went on the rides with her. But she can't remember that anymore.
Andi speaks to her:
"And you're playing Pippi Longstocking with your braids?"
She doesn’t fully understand the question but laughs and nods—she finds Andi amusing.
"We got to know each other better when you accidentally smashed a bottle over my head at the Seeger Bar in 1995. Do you remember if it was a bottle of mineral water, wine, or spirits?"
"Hit you with a bottle on the head? No, are you crazy? I never did that. That must have been someone else, you can cross that out from this interview."
"You are Austrian. Where and how did you grow up?"
"This is just like the investigating magistrate's office. There, I always say: No comment, no comment."
"You can't say no now, no comment. After all, you were born and you grew up somewhere."
"Born in St. Gallen, cantonal hospital. But I came into this world as a Viennese."
"Why did you never become Swiss?"
"Had no money."
"Maybe you could talk a bit more about your education: What did you want to become?"
"I wanted to become a baker or pastry chef, I would have liked that. But after vocational orientation school, I did a trial apprenticeship in plumbing and heating, then I completed the apprenticeship. Back then, I earned well and quickly established myself in this profession. I immediately took on construction management roles. Everything went perfectly for me. I had taken over six apartment blocks in a large building development in Goldach, for the Sulzer company. I was thrown into the cold water then, and it did me good. After that, I had earned a good reputation. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, sure. But now we're talking about your second career. What was the motorcycle scene like in your youth in St. Gallen?"
"So, first of all, you don't write anything about bikers. We were a motorcycle club. Back then, there were still 'Töfflibuebe' (moped boys), that's how it started. As a boys' gang, there were a few in Neudorf, on Oberstrasse, in Riethüsli."
"Where were you?"
"From the Riethüsli."
"Were there women who participated?"
"No women. We weren't allowed to ride the bikes in pairs." (laughs)
"How old were you then?"
"At 14, we were allowed to ride mopeds, at 16 or 17 we were in apprenticeships, and then at 18, you could take the 125cc test."
"How did it all start with the Unicorns? How did you come up with that name?"
"You know what a unicorn is. It is a symbol of freedom. 'The Last Unicorn' by the band America was our song. You just got to know each other, exchanged ideas, did things together. Do you understand me? It was also about getting to know girls, maybe to steal women from each other."
"There is the myth of the abduction of the Sabine women shortly after the founding of the city of Rome."
"Yeah, something like that. Exactly. Basically, that's how it was."
"And then?"
"So, in the end, we thought: Why always against each other? Why not together?"
"And who founded the Unicorns?"
"Jack and I founded the club in the early eighties. In St. Fiden, Neudorf. We were six or seven at the beginning."
"Were there no larger motorcycle clubs claiming the territory?"
"No, the Hells Angels were in Zurich and were not interested in St. Gallen at that time. We were our own motorcycle club, and over time, we got to know various like-minded people and friends with whom we exchanged ideas—for example, the Broncos from Bern, the Tombstone-Rats from Wil, the Evel Rowdies from… (points in a direction), the Hurricans from Ticino or Italy."
"What did your gatherings look like?"
"Everyone organized a party. We had a clubhouse on Bedastrasse—that was a long time ago. You can't invite so many people to your home, can you? But you could always bring your girlfriend to the club. In the end, we were 16 Unicorns."
"What was the club philosophy of the Unicorns?"
"Rides, meeting like-minded people. To be happy with the motorcycle. Talking shop together, exchanging ideas, who has the better motorcycle, etc. Modifying the motorcycle, who knows."
"And drink tea too?"
"No, certainly not. That sounds stupid."
"You don't have to give me the politically correct version."
"But I have to, you're such a sneaky lefty bastard." (laughs)
"How did you make money as a club back then?"
"We didn't make any money as a club. Everyone paid a monthly fee to finance the clubhouse."
The Unicorns Were Taken Over by the Hells Angels in the Nineties. How Did That Happen?
"We also wanted to be internationally connected with motorcycle friends. It was no longer a challenge to be active only locally. Besides, it's nobody's business in detail. So we founded a charter of the Hells Angels in St. Gallen."
Let's talk about the Hells Angels.
"We were taken over as a club. We were prospects for a year, basically trial members, still with our Unicorns emblem. We had to help out at the clubhouse in Zurich, serving beer, etc., or wherever we were needed, even abroad. Everyone had to go to Zurich, where we were essentially tested to see if we fit in with the Hells Angels or not. So everyone had to earn their stripes. We wanted to become Hells Angels back then. That meant we had to prove ourselves, not just get the badge and be done with it. They wanted to get to know us, and we wanted to get to know them."
You met one of the most legendary Hells Angels and founder of the Oakland Charter, Sonny Barger, in Prague.
"Yes, I met him once at a World Run. I still have photos of it. You don’t get to know all the Hells Angels at once. Some come from Italy, some from Brazil, some from California."
What was he like as a person? Did you talk to him?
"Yes, I talked to him. He was very lively and calm. Caring. That is very important."
At some point, it was over for you with the Hells Angels. You can just leave?
"Yes, you can. Don’t always ask like an investigating judge."
Alright. I'll read you a few philosophical quotes now, and you tell me what you think about them.
"Does it matter what I think?"
"Yes, for me it does."
"Alright, go ahead."
Freedom and Will
"Man is condemned to be free."
The quote comes from Jean-Paul Sartre, the leading figure of French existentialism. Would you agree with that? Meaning, making your own decisions and taking responsibility for them?
"I would say, of course, I would agree with that. There’s a poem: 'Life is not a game of dice.' We had to learn it in school when we were 12. It has so many verses, just look it up. I can’t recite it by heart anymore either. It’s incredibly long."
"Will" by Alfred Huggenberger
Life is not a game of chance; we choose both the path and the goal.
Whatever stands in the way, whatever stands in the way,
A firm will, a firm will forces the world.
So many remain standing on the mountain and think a miracle will happen.
Yes, the joyful power works wonders, yes, the joyful power works wonders,
Diligence, not slackening, diligence, not slackening!
Be proud of scarred wounds, a worm does not come to good wood.
Let no one complain about their Lord God, let no one complain about their Lord God:
We choose both, we choose both, goal and path!
Desire and Freedom
"Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one’s desires, but by the removal of desire."
This is from Epictetus, a Greek slave who later became a Stoic philosopher in Rome. I only have the quote in English, so I’m translating it freely for you:
"When you fulfill your desires, you do not become free. You become free by restraining your desires."
"There’s something to that. You have to give up things to gain freedom."
The point Epictetus probably is making that if you work for years just to buy a BMW 3 Series, the car ends up owning you more than you own it.
"That’s a dirty question you’re asking me again. I worked so that I could own a motorcycle, so that I could feel the wind blowing against me—that is freedom."
The Illusion of Wealth and Freedom
Henry David Thoreau tells the story of an Englishman who, in the 19th century, first went to India to become rich and then planned to return to England to live as a poet.
Thoreau asks:
Why didn’t he just move into an attic room and start writing right away?
"You can’t be free in an attic room. There is no wind and no sun."
"Yes, but maybe you could open the hatch?"
"Back in the 19th century, you couldn’t open a hatch, they didn’t exist back then."
"Then let’s just say the Englishman could have moved to a mountain hut."
"There are no mountain huts in England. See, for example, here on my terrace, your daughter gets a strawberry ice cream cone—not philosopher’s porridge like at your house."
"That’s nice of you, Andi."
Language and Meaning
The next quote is from the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It is essentially the summary of his work Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus:
"What can be said at all can be said clearly; and whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."
"No, one must be able to discuss things."
Wittgenstein argues that, for example, one should not talk about metaphysics—meaning, one shouldn’t ask questions or seek answers about whether God exists or not.
"God exists, He helps me, and I also help someone who needs my help."
Wittgenstein thinks that one shouldn’t talk about things one cannot know.
"I also can’t know if it will rain tomorrow."
The next sentence comes from Karl Marx.
"Oh no, please not that one!"
"Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."
"We did that too when we founded the Unicorns, didn’t we?"
"That’s right."
"Ebe gsesch." (Swiss German: "See? Exactly.")
The Best of All Possible Worlds?
The most extensive philosophical work published by Gottfried Leibniz is Theodicy. The core statement of this work is the much-quoted—and also mocked—assertion, famously ridiculed by Voltaire, that we live in the best of all possible worlds, or as Leibniz put it:
"Le meilleur des mondes possibles."
"How do you see that?"
"On Earth, there are humans, animals, and insects, and we don’t even know what else exists on other planets. Maybe they are not as selfish as we are. An animal kills to survive; a human can kill out of lust—which no animal does. We need to think about that."
"You mean, we can improve?"
"Together, not against each other, it should be. Live and let live. Together and not against each other—to solve the current problems."
"Like at the founding of the Unicorns."
"Yes, something like that."