Tens of thousands of revelers raved down Berlin's central boulevards for the first time in 16 years as the initial "Rave the Planet" event echoed the "Love Parade" of lore.
16 years later, it's like the party never stopped in Berlin Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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Colorful crowds thronged the streets of West Berlin as the first of twenty-odd floats blasting powerful techno music headed down the Ku'damm shopping strip towards the Tiergarten.
Currywurst stands too beamed dance beats as the city got into the mood for the first "Rave the Planet," a reincarnation of the legendary "Love Parade" that was created by party founder, Dr. Motte.
Though well shy of the million-odd people who packed into central Berlin during the parade's late-1990s peak, Saturday's event echoed its DIY and avowedly political origins.
Like the first street party that was registered as a demonstration for "Peace, Joy and Pancakes," with around 150 people dancing behind a small truck through the city to protest war and poverty, today was another official demo — this time to preserve electronic music culture that was hit hard by COVID.
Berlin celebrates club music culture as the rebranded Love Parade makes a comebackImage: Stuart Braun/DW
The themes of solidarity, diversity, respect, music, sustainability and community were all on display as clubs, DJs and dancers of all ages and in all kinds of attire came together to celebrate a Berlin clubbing culture that Dr. Motte wants listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
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'Part of something bigger'
"I love it. I love to feel part of something bigger, I like the political motivations behind it. Everyone is together," said Pacco, a Berlin resident originally from Cologne who was born eight years after the first Love Parade.
"It feels absolutely amazing, seeing your favorite clubs having these little parties, experiencing so many styles of music," said Cynthia while standing on the street during a rare break between blasting floats.
"We've been here for like 30 minutes and I think the vibe is absolutely amazing," she said. "This is something unique, I think you need to be in Berlin to experience something like this."
Berlin's wild spirit breaks free
As the crowd grew on the route through Nollendorfplatz, the center of Berlin's gay district where rainbow flags flew from surrounding apartments and people danced on balconies, one woman told DW that the parade reinforced of the strength of music and club culture and "how it has influenced Berlin."
Her friend had attended the Love Parade between 1996 and 1998 when more than one million people gathered around the the golden "Siegessäule," or Victory Column, in the Tiergarten — which was also the final stop for Rave the Planet. "It was much bigger, much louder," he said. "You couldn't move."
Another woman dressed in fluro-pink and green said she was last at the event in 2000, and said the crowd was more colorful and flamboyant, a reference to the time when it was the biggest party on the planet.
Dancing around the Victory Column during the 2003 Love Parade Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
On the approach to the Tiergarten, the sun now shining on what seemed an endless street party, one young raver held up a "Friede, Freude, Eierkuchen," or "Peace, Joy and Pancakes," sign. She said the motto from the first Love Parade was still relevant. "It's about being together and having a good time, and about love."
"Together again" read the sign on one of the smaller passing floats, hundreds trailing in the thrall of the pounding beats emitted from the vehicle.
"The wild spirit of Berlin has broken free," said Duane from South Africa and a former Berliner who is back in town for summer.
Love Parade: From humble beginnings, to major music festival, to tragic ending
What began as a peaceful festival in Berlin with only 150 attendees went on to become one of Europe's largest music festivals. However, the Love Parade was abruptly cancelled after a deadly stampede broke out in 2010.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Four DJs, three cars and just 150 party-goers
Matthias Roeingh, better known by his stage name Dr. Motte, organized the first Love Parade in Berlin in 1989 along with fellow DJs Jonzon, Westbam and Kid Paul. Roeingh said he wanted the festival to be seen as a protest for peace. Some 150 party-goers, followed by three cars blaring techno music, danced down Berlin's Kurfürstendamm boulevard under the banner "Peace, joy and pancakes."
Image: Imago/Travel-Stock-Image
Europe catches the love bug
It wasn't long before the Love Parade grew into one of the largest music festivals in Europe. As the number of party-goers increased, so did the number of artists and event organizers who brought their own floats, or "love mobiles," to the parade.
Image: Imago/Seeliger
Partying in the heart of the German capital
After almost half a million people flooded Berlin's Kurfürstendamm for the Love Parade in 1996, it became clear that a larger venue was needed. The following year, the festival was moved to Berlin's Straße des 17. Juni (17th of June Street), with the Victory Column, Brandenburg Gate and Tiergarten Park providing a historic backdrop to the frenzied techno rave.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Grimm
More stress than love
But as the festival attracted ever more revelers, it also attracted more trouble ... and much, much more rubbish. Mountains of garbage in the Tiergarten became a common sight, to the disgust of many locals. However, because the Love Parade was still, in theory, a political festival, Berlin's state government had to bear the costs, both for security and for the mass clean-ups.
Image: Imago/Müller-Stauffenberg
Ravers protest festival commercialization
For all its controversies, the main point of criticism directed at the festival was its increasing commercialization. Love Parade organizers made a pretty profit through licensing, advertising and merchandise sales. However, that also drove many techno heads to distance themselves from the Love Parade, with some even starting an annual counter festival, know as the "F*** Parade" (pictured above).
Image: Imago/Seeliger
Out with the politics
In 2001, Germany's Constitutional Court revoked the Love Parade's classification as a demonstration. The court found that the festival offered no clear political message, a requisite for any protest. Since organizers did not want to bear the security or clean-up costs, the 2004 and 2005 Love Parade festivals were cancelled.
Image: Imago/Enters
'The Love is back!'
Under the banner "The Love is back!" the Love Parade relaunched in 2006, bringing more than a million revelers to Berlin. But it would also be the last edition to take place in the German capital. That year, Rainer Schaller, an entrepreneur who runs a chain of fitness centers, took over the company in charge of organizing the festival. His plan was to bring the Love Parade to Germany's Ruhr area.
Image: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
A record attendance in the Ruhr metropolises
According to the Love Parade organizers, more than a million flocked to the city of Essen for the first edition of the festival in western Germany in 2007, while some 1.6 million people partied in Dortmund the following year. Several people, however, have claimed that the numbers were massively inflated by organizers, likely for marketing purposes.
Image: AP
Bochum refuses Love Parade invitation
High on the festival's successes in Essen and Dortmund, organizers wanted to bring the Love Parade to the city of Bochum in 2009. However, city officials refused, citing security concerns. This ultimately forced the party to be cancelled in 2009, provoking outrage from seasoned ravers and parade-goers.
Image: Imago
The horrific ending
Organizers wanted to make up for the lost year by staging a massive festival in Duisburg in 2010. The festival coincided with the city's selection as a European Capital of Culture and attracted over a million visitors. But the party ended in tragedy. Panic broke out as crowds converged in a tunnel leading to the festival grounds, resulting in the deaths of 21 people, and injuring a further 650.
Image: AP
Never again
The very same day as the deadly stampede, Love Parade organizers announced that there would be no further festivals. Every year on July 24, Germany comes together to commemorate the victims of the festival tragedy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Love Parade disaster goes to trial
In December 2017, more than seven years after the tragic Love Parade incident, prosecutors launched criminal proceedings against six Duisburg city employees and four festival organizers. The trial is set to be one of Germany's largest ever court cases, with 70 lawyers involved — 32 representing defendants and 38 representing 65 joint plaintiffs, mainly relatives of the young people killed.
