Critical Mass (Hamburg)

Critical measurement meeting point in Hamburg at the planetarium in the city park on June 26, 2015

The Critical Mass takes place on the last Friday of every month in Hamburg . According to § 27 StVO, a spontaneously formed bicycle parade drives as a " closed association " with right of way at a walking pace on the lane on a spontaneously chosen route.

Development of the Critical Mass form of action

Hamburg, Critical Mass Hamburg on June 28, 2019: Bicycles on Hamburger Strasse, further to Mundsburger Damm, towards the city

Critical Mass Bicycle Corso in Hamburg, Hamburger Strasse in autumn 2019 in the dark

The form of action called Critical Mass was created in September 1992 in San Francisco . The event format has been carried out in Hamburg since March 2000. Up to 6,000 cyclists take part in summer and up to 500 in winter when it is dark. The train can also be heard through the muffled, uniform music from loudspeaker boxes carried by individual cyclists. The starting point is always the end point of the previous tour. The Critical Mass Happening in March 2020 was canceled due to the order of the Authority for Health and Consumer Protection from March 15, 2020 to protect against the corona virus pandemic.

Right of way

The right of way is secured by participants in the tour as well as by motorcycle police officers and service vehicles from the Hamburg police force . The aim is to draw attention to cyclists as road users. The participants do not make any political demands. The bicycle association causes traffic jams for about half an hour on the selected route and in cross traffic. The symbolic blocking of cross traffic by participants in the parade is called “corking”.

Movies

(in chronological order)

• Rennesel.de: Critical Mass Hamburg 05/2018 on YouTube
• Rennesel.de: Critical Mass Hamburg 08/2018 on YouTube
• Rennesel.de: Critical Mass Hamburg 06/2019 on YouTube
• Stealth eagle Maik: Critical Mass Hamburg June 2019 (Critical Ice) on YouTube
• Rennesel.de: Mass Hamburg 07/2019 on YouTube

Web links

Commons : Critical Mass in Hamburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Critical Mass Hamburg at criticalmass.in
• Critical Mass Hamburg at ADFC

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Critical Mass in Hamburg turns 20. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , March 9, 2020, p. 14. Author abbreviation lno.
2. ^ Critical Mass Hamburg at ADFC.
3. ↑ Thomas Harloff: From the difficult wooing for understanding. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . May 30, 2014 ( sueddeutsche.de ).
4. ↑ Critical Mass in Hamburg turns 20. In: Hamburger Abendblatt . March 9, 2020, p. 14. Author abbreviation lno.
5. ^ Sarah Erichsen: Protest on the bike: Critical Mass Hamburg: "We are the traffic". In: shz. Retrieved April 26, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Frequently asked questions about critical mass at criticalmass.in