May Day: Politics won't divide us
In 1910, Herr von Jaegow - Berlin's police president - attempted to prohibit demonstrations on workers’ May Day threatening to proceed with arms if necessary. His threat was answered by a call to action from hundreds of thousands of workers pouring into the streets... Von Jaegow didn't dare go through with it. But that which even the minions of the Kaiser didn't dare, was left to be accomplished by the German social democracy. Shortly before May 1 (1929), Von Jaegow’s successor Zoergiebel issued an order prohibiting all public demonstrations, or meetings of any group, in Berlin. The order was aimed directly at the Communists - and they answered with a call to the workers of Berlin to fill the streets on May Day.
(translated from The Militant, Vol. II No. 11, 1 July 1929)
In the present day, the origins of May Day are associated to 1987 - some 30 years ago – when police apprehended a street festival in Kreuzberg using batons and tear gas to combat some overturned vehicles and construction cars pushed out into the street. Activists quickly mobilised to resist the police attacks: barricades were set up, police cars set alight. It was an urban uprising that forced the police stealth into the city center.Whilst the demonstrations between The Left, The Autonomen and the police force have become somewhat of an annual tradition, in true Berlin fashion there’s also a party to be had (minus the political underscore).
“With the rhythmical formula you can convince anyone in the world of dancing, just dancing. It’s a universal language of music - an anti-Babylon - it doesn’t matter your culture, your political background or opinion … we belong together . This is what music is able to show, that there is a culture uniting us, that we can communicate with one another, love one another and dance together without having any problem. All these people are dancing to the same songs.”
“Our movement is a bubble (a still accepted bubble) that has no political meaning… that means that they leave us in our bubble. We should protect our bubble, be happy that we are able to make our parties, have the time where we are able to dance and be together. This is something that we have to be very happy for. You work hard to create the bubble, maintain the bubble, defend the bubble... to not let it become an instrument of political meaning.”
May Day's Perlon line-up - “Die Üblichen Verdächtigen” (The Usual Suspects) - annually graces the infamous decks of Club der Visionaere with a 24-hour party uniting dancers set alight by their musical passion. And its these passions that underscore the collective heartbeat of Berlin.This year expect no less. Whilst we take to the streets and floors, common themes of conviction, solidarity and revolution propel the city further for the coming Summer months.
“The revolution is cool, everything else is Quark (cottage cheese).”