Berlin police forced to break up floating protest

Police in Berlin were forced to shut down a protest in support of the city’s beleaguered club scene. The “floating protest” along the Spree River swiftly grew into a techno party with around 1.500 attendees.

A floating protest in Berlin

The protest was organised by the Rebellion der Träumer collective in support of the city’s famous club scene. While it was initially thought that around 100 people would take part in the protest, it quickly grew to include over 1.500 people and around 300 - 400 boats.

After the first few boats took to the river, more and more people joined in to float and party their way down the Landwehr Canal. Police estimate that around 1.500 people attended the protest, either from the banks or from the fleet of yachts, canoes and inflatable boats that descended on the canal.

Police shut down the party

As you can imagine, social distancing regulations were not being followed and the police received many complaints due to the loud music. Following talks with the police, the organisers ended the protest. Police acknowledged that protesters were asked to adhere to social distancing regulations; however with so many of them it was difficult to enforce, and many were not wearing face masks.

The protest also attracted criticism online, with people accusing the protestors of breaking social distancing regulations as well as being tone-deaf, as the protest took place at the same time as an anti-police violence protest in Berlin. Several people also pointed out that the protest eventually came to a halt outside of a city hospital.

Rebellion der Träumer has apologised for the scale of the event and that it ended outside the hospital, however they thanked the protestors for their overwhelming support. The collective also took the opportunity to call for a debate on how to support clubs, festivals and self-employed artists suffering from the coronavirus crisis.