Loveparade successor
Berlin: Hundreds of thousands at “Rave The Planet” with Dr. moth
Under the motto “Rave the Planet”, a parade of techno fans will dance to the Victory Column. Photo: Jörg Carstensen/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
After two years of Corona, Berlin is celebrating a huge techno party – almost like the Love Parade in the 1990s. This time, however, it is not entirely without discord.
Booming bass, dancing crowds: Loveparade founder Dr. With his new techno spectacle “Rave The Planet” in Berlin, Motte brought hundreds of thousands to a boisterous celebration on the streets on Saturday.
The police estimated the number of participants at 200,000, the organizers even at 400,000. In addition to 18 music floats with around 150 artists, they paraded through the western city center and the Tiergarten to the Victory Column into the evening.
Mixed police record
The police drew a mixed balance on Sunday. Although she described the course of the move as “largely trouble-free”. In the end, however, the Straße des 17. Juni became so crowded that “dangerous situations” arose. Locks would have prevented other people from moving up. The police demanded that the music be turned off, but the organizers were unable to enforce this. He then finished the move at 9:20 p.m. The police reported 35 restrictions on freedom and 41 investigations, including those related to physical harm, sexual harassment, drugs or property damage.
There was also criticism on Twitter on Sunday because Dr. Motte held up a symbol of the so-called Freedom Parade of “lateral thinkers” during the parade. The DJ responded in a tweet: “I didn’t know that. I apologize.” A spokeswoman for the event said on request that there was a mix-up that Dr. Moth was “mega-embarrassing”. “Motte is not a lateral thinker and has nothing to do with it,” she said.
“Peace, joy and pancakes”
dr Motte, whose real name is Matthias Roeingh, first crossed the Ku’damm in 1989 with a few fellow campaigners and a music truck under the motto “Peace, Joy, Pancakes”. In the 1990s, the Love Parade developed into a magnet for hundreds of thousands. Then the founder gave up the brand. In 2010, the completely overcrowded Love Parade organized by other organizers in Duisburg ended in disaster: 21 people died and more than 500 were injured.
The organizers emphasized that the start-up had nothing to do with the original event. But the spirit of the Love Parade floated along, especially since Dr. Motte issued the motto “Together again”. As before, the new parade was registered as a political demonstration – actually only for 25,000 participants. The police secured the move with up to 600 officers.
dr At the beginning, Motte gave a short speech with political demands. Among other things, he pleaded for an unconditional basic income for artists, for the inclusion of Berlin’s techno culture in the intangible UNESCO cultural heritage and against bans on dancing on Christian holidays. The DJ emphasized that the peaceful celebration is against war and violence. DJs from Ukraine also took part.
Gigantic birthday party
for dr Motte it was also a gigantic birthday party: the DJ turned 62 on Saturday. The participants also seemed to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the dancing. Among them were almost all age groups – many over 40, but also many younger people. A few people with prams walked along. According to the organizers, the rubbish was picked up from the zoo on Sunday in a collection campaign with volunteers.
The self-proclaimed Captain Future, a symbol of so-called lateral thinkers or lateral ravers, i.e. critics of the government measures against the corona pandemic, could also be seen on the sidelines of the parade. One participant carried a sign with the slogan “Never again lockdown”. But it seemed to be a small group. The organizer’s spokeswoman said Dr. Motte expressly distances itself from lateral thinkers. “He wants to bring society together.”
However, it was recalled on Twitter that the DJ had previously drawn criticism with comments. In 2012, a penalty order was issued against him because he is said to have said “Heil Hitler” in a dispute with police officers. He was also criticized for interview statements about “Jews all over the world” and a speech about “gay politics” by the then governing mayor Klaus Wowereit. In 2014, Dr. Motte commented on all of these allegations and also apologized.