Thousands attend protest rave in Berlin against A100 motorway expansion
://about blank, Else and Club OST all hosted stages at the event
Thousands of Berlin ravers attended a protest event this past weekend against the planned expansion of the A100 motorway.
Held between the neighbourhoods of Treptower Park and Ostkreuz on Saturday, 2nd September, the protest attracted around 7,000 people with protesters including members of the club community, climate activists and others.
They danced and carried protest placards, standing among stages hosted by Berlin clubs such as ://about blank, Else and Club OST, which all may be affected by the proposed extension of the motorway.
Per Resident Advisor's report, homemade signs on display at the protest carried slogans such as "no highway to hell" and "culture instead of concrete", with those protesting both speaking out against the cultural impact that the motorway extension would have in affecting several venues, as well as the potential affect it may have on the local climate.
The protest rave was organised collaboratively by the BI A100 citizens' group, Berlin Club Commission and the clubs that are at risk of closure. The Berlin Club Commission said earlier this year that at least 21 cultural institutions are at risk of closure due to the A100 motorway extension.
In a statement announcing the protest, shared in August, the Berlin Club Commission said: "As a civil society alliance of neighbourhood residents, climate activists and clubbers, we turn up the bass and invite you to a protest rave against the A100. The dominance of the car and the power of the automobile companies is still unbroken in this country. Highways have always been a priority in Germany. The Berlin government, too, propagates the autoconformist city."
It added: "In the affected neighbourhoods, noise and emissions continue to rise, displacement and traffic collapse are the immediate consequences. The extension of the A100 would mean the end for more than twenty clubs and cultural venues; cultural open spaces, social projects and neighbourhood communities that have grown over decades would be destroyed. These prospects for the future are unacceptable to us."
Local and national government figures have backed the extension of the A100 motorway as a way to help deal with Berlin's congestion, and serve its growing population.
