There is no more space at Marienplatz on Saturday afternoon. According to initial estimates by the police headquarters, there are tens of thousands who took part in the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade and the two Pride Weeks, plus thousands of people watching the colorful parade on the side of the road. Mayor Dieter Reiter says to the cheers of the crowds on the big stage: “I’ve been here for a few years, but today is unbelievable.” The political spokesman for the CSD and city councilor for the Pink List, Thomas Niederbühl, is also overwhelmed: “I think that was the longest and largest CSD parade I’ve ever seen.”
The motto of the CSD is ‘Less me, more we’.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)
The participants gather at Mariahilfplatz in der Au from 10 a.m., a total of around 140 groups, who are in a huge convoy on the four-kilometer route over the Reichenbachbrücke via Gärtnerplatz and Sendlinger-Tor-Platz to Marienplatz open. The first participants start at 12:00 p.m., and the last parade floats leave the Au at around 1:30 p.m. Already at midday, hundreds of people are standing at Sendlinger Tor and Oberanger, waiting for the loud and colorful parade, which this year has the motto “Less me, more we” and is a signal for a tolerant and wants to send out a peaceful world. Bruno Karl from Cologne is standing on the side of the road near the Rindermarkt and asks his neighbors: “What are all the people waiting for here?” It’s the CSD parade “and it’s better than the carnival in Cologne,” says the man from Munich, who is sitting on a step in front of the city museum.
Two minutes later, the start of the parade can be seen from afar. It is led by people from Ukraine, a huge blue and yellow heart made of balloons hangs over the heads of the participants. But it still takes two hours until the last people arrive at Marienplatz. Many wear rainbow flags around their shoulders, while others in the LGBTIQ community wear relatively little apart from fishnet stockings and a bikini. At 5 p.m. it’s still 25 degrees in the shade and the CSD party has only just begun. Munich is also celebrating Christopher Street Day this Sunday, with more than 70 information stands set up in the old town. After all, in addition to enjoying life, it is also about continuing to stand up against discrimination and for tolerance and equal opportunities.
Wolfgang Rothe, Catholic priest (r), also takes part in the parade.
(Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa)