Members of Berlin’s LGBTQ community and supporters gathered in grief and solidarity on Sunday following a deadly vehicle attack that struck crowds at the city’s annual Christopher Street Day Pride festivities the night before, leaving one person dead and more than a dozen others hurt.
In response to the Saturday night attack, parade organizers called off a number of planned follow-up events, including a breakfast market at a well-known food hall and a post-parade cleanup effort.
In place of those events, the D-Dur Dykes pop choir announced plans for a community vigil at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) at Pariser Platz — the public square surrounding the Brandenburg Gate — located just a short distance from where the attack occurred. A motorbike group called Queer Bikes Berlin also announced a Pride ride for Sunday.
Alfonso Pantisano, the Berlin state government’s LGBTQ affairs commissioner, said he was present at Brandenburg Gate when the situation changed in an instant.
“To you, my dear community: I know that many of you are afraid right now. I won’t sugarcoat it — I am, too. But you are not alone in this fear, in your grief, and in your anger,” Pantisano wrote on Instagram.
Berlin’s Christopher Street Day parade draws up to 1 million participants each year, according to city officials. The march passes through the Tiergarten park and brings together advocates for the rights and inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex people.
The event was first held in 1979 and takes its name from Christopher Street in New York’s Greenwich Village, honoring the 1969 Stonewall uprising — a pivotal moment when people fought back against police raids and harassment targeting the LGBTQ community.
Berlin holds a significant place in the history of gay rights and culture, dating back to the late 1800s when sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld established what is considered the world’s first gay rights organization in 1897. The city became an international center of gay and lesbian life during the liberal Weimar era, though that vibrant cultural scene was largely dismantled under Nazi rule. Despite ongoing discrimination following World War Two and throughout Germany’s division, gay communities slowly rebuilt themselves in Berlin through bars, social organizations, and political activism.
German rapper Ikkimel, who performed during the first day of CSD, shared a message of encouragement on Instagram following the attack.
“I hope that many people realise how important it is that we stay strongly together, now more than ever,” Ikkimel wrote. “Please please please stay strong. I will always stand up for us.”
