Thousands dance in Berlin: Loveparade founder opens techno parade

The name Loveparade is history, but its spirit should live on in the new "Rave The Planet Parade".

Thousands dance in Berlin: Loveparade founder opens techno parade

The name Loveparade is history, but its spirit should live on in the new "Rave The Planet Parade". Scene veteran Dr. Motto gives the starting signal for the techno parade in Berlin with thousands of participants. It's not just hedonistic, it's also political.

Loveparade founder Dr. Motte has started his new techno spectacle "Rave The Planet Parade" on Berlin's Kurfürstendamm. At around 2 p.m., the 62-year-old gave a short speech in which he campaigned, among other things, for an unconditional basic income for artists and for the inclusion of Berlin's techno culture in the intangible UNESCO cultural heritage.

Like the parades in the 1980s and 1990s, the move is registered as a demonstration - according to the police for 25,000 people. In the beginning, the police counted about 5000 participants in cool weather, but recorded further influx. Around 600 police officers were on duty.

dr Motte, whose real name is Matthias Roeingh, issued the motto "Together again", which is intended to carry on the spirit of the Love Parade. The new foundation has nothing else to do with the original event, as the organizers emphasize. The techno pioneer had given up the Loveparade brand. In 2010, the Loveparade organized by other organizers in Duisburg ended in disaster. 21 people died and more than 500 were injured.

dr Motte first crossed the Ku'damm in 1989 with a few fellow campaigners and a music truck under the motto "Peace, Joy, Pancakes". Later, the parade became a magnet for hundreds of thousands.