The rejection of compulsory vaccination unites the protest: Kick-off rally in Holzhausenpark Image: Ilkay Karakurt
5000 opponents of compulsory vaccination march through downtown Frankfurt. The rally shows how diverse the people are who take to the streets. "Booster bunny" included.
A festival atmosphere arises on the Berliner Strabe. Around a handcart, on which a massive loudspeaker box is enthroned, the demonstrators begin to dance. "Dance, dance, dance for your life," the voice of singer Henning Wehland can be heard. A woman dressed in a bunny costume, she turns in a circle, in her hand she holds an oversized syringe. "The booster bunny will be here soon," says the sign hanging around her neck.
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A few steps behind, a flatbed truck can be seen dancing so wildly that it shakes violently. A batik scarf hangs on the side of the car, a string of lights under the roof, the DJ wears an Anonymous mask. He’s now playing a booming techno tune and people around the car are cheering. With their party on the street they want to set a sign against the vaccination obligation. There are certainly about 5000 demonstrators who peacefully march through downtown Frankfurt on this Saturday afternoon.
Increasing protest against pandemic policy
The starting and ending point of their protest march is Holzhausenpark in Nordend. The route runs through the streets of the inner city ring, past Eschenheimer Tor, Konstablerwache, Paulskirche and Robmarkt. Protest against the pandemic policy has also recently increased again in Frankfurt. There are rallies almost every day. The marches on Saturdays are among those with the most participants.
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During the demonstration, it becomes clear how heterogeneous the scene is. Seniors in functional clothes walk next to alternatives with rasta curls, many parents have brought their young children with them. Banners with the red, five-pointed star of the communists are waved as well as rainbow flags or the emblem of the peace movement, the white dove on a blue background.
Flag U.S. right-wing extremists in the middle of it
Many hold red balloons in the shape of hearts in their hands. But also seen is the American Gadsden flag, which shows a rattlesnake and the words "Don’t tread on me" ("Do not tread on me"). It is a symbol of the extreme right in the United States. The rioters who stormed the Capitol also carried the flag with the snake on it.
The rejection of the Corona vaccinations unites the protest. At the kick-off rally in Holzhausen Park, a female speaker speaks of an "apartheid against the unvaccinated", a man calls vaccinating children "a rape", "compulsory vaccination = genocide" is written on a placard.
"We are not bad guys and we are not right-wingers"
If you get into a conversation with the protesters, many of them emphasize that they are "not Nazis". "We fight for democracy and freedom, we are not extremist," says a man in a blue down jacket. "We are not bad guys and we are not right-wingers, please believe us," appeals a woman in a black coat.
But only a few moments later, a woman walks down the street holding a hand-sewn black-white-red imperial flag in her hand. At the demonstration, no one seems to be bothered by this. "Germany is occupied, the FRG is a company," she nags. What the woman is spreading are slogans of the so-called Reichsburger movement.