Freeparade
The Free Parade (2001-2004 Free Republic ) was an anti-commercial, leftist political demonstration and Techno Parade by the Vienna city center. The type of demonstration was similar to the original Love Parade (or the later counter-event, the Fuckparade ), but was in the tradition of the Freetekno movement.
From 2001 to 2004 it took place under the name FreeRePublic; after a two-year break it ran under the name Freeparade from 2007. Already from 1994 to 1999 an event called Free Party took place in Vienna every year, but it developed similarly to the Love Parade, and from 2000 also bore this name. Similar to the Fuckparade, the FreeRePublic was also initiated by people from the Free Party environment due to increasing commercialization and depoliticization of the original parade. From 2008, a free parade in Paris took place at the same time as the demonstration in Vienna .
The last Freeparade in Vienna was held in 2010.
FreeRePublic
2001
After the black-blue government coalition of 2000, the FreeRePublic took place on the Wiener Ring for the first time on July 7, 2001, supported by around 50 organizations with around 40 trucks . On the same day, the Love Parade was also held in Vienna with around 150,000-300,000 visitors, while around 20,000 people took part in the FreeRePublic demonstration, which distanced itself from the Love Parade. Among other things, there were demonstrations against racism , sexism and social cuts , Paragraph 209 , tuition fees and the sale of youth cultures. Free access to free media was called for; Also called for a reduction of bureaucracy for events, the abolition of curfew and the abolition of the entertainment tax in order to make free parties possible.
2002
The second FreeRePublic took place on June 15, on "Free Media Day", again at the Ring. As in the previous year, the demonstration was supported and co-organized by, among others, Public Netbase , Radio Orange 94.0 , SOS Mitmensch and the Austrian Students' Union . Among other things, the following was demanded: “for a variety of free media instead of media power concentration - away with §209 - equal rights for same-sex love - for the abolition of detention pending deportation - for social development and basic security - for free access to education - for a police force as a friend and helper - for self-determination instead of outside determination - women at the trouble spot - more freedom instead of criminalization of scene cultures - for the right to be lazy - against commercialization and conformity of youth culture - equal rights for migrants. "
2003
The third FreeRePublic took place on June 14th. Instead of a parade across the ring as in previous years, a permanent location at Karlsplatz was planned. This location was banned by the police for a short time, "out of consideration for the surrounding high-culture institutions". The police also indicated that the political character of the meeting would have been withdrawn later, which would have been associated with high costs for the demonstration organizers (costs of the police operation, etc.). The alternative way of demonstration was only announced shortly before the event.
2004
The last FreeRePublic took place on August 7th at Karlsplatz, "to make a loud statement on the political reality that brings with it more and more restrictions and repression."
Freeparade
2007
After a two-year break, the Freeparade took place for the first time on July 7, 2007. In the call for a demonstration, the relationship to the former FreeRePublic was thematized and a more radical criticism of the prevailing conditions was expressed:
- “While the 'Free Republic' was clearly dominated by the protests against black and blue (later orange ), it has been clear since the last National Council election at the latest : none of the parliamentary parties want real alternatives to the current, neoliberal course. There is little space left for minimum social standards or culture beyond the ' bread and games ' standard set by Ö3 , M-TV , Viva & Co - personal rights are becoming a luxury. At the same time we experience how on the threshold of the information society communication is restricted, monitored and censored.
- With the 'Free Parade' we will take to the streets for our right to self-determination as well as for the social and economic prerequisites that are necessary for this. We also want to show that culture is not aloof, but simply the way people live and spend their free time, but also express protest and how they stand up for their opinion.
- ... Free Parade rolls against capitalism , nationalism , fascism , racism, (hetero-) sexism, ...! "
About ten DJ trucks played on the first free parade with about 5000 participants, which started in the shopping street Mariahilfer Straße and led to the ring, under the motto: "For self-determined life and social justice."
2008
Under the motto “Transform the Norm. Do it yourself ”the FreeParade took place on July 5th of the year with around 20 trucks and 7000 people, starting from Europaplatz and leading across the Ring. The demand was: “Stop capitalist globalization! Solidarity production for people instead of for profits ! - No wall around Europe - right to stay for everyone and for the long term! No Border, No Nation !! - For the equality of all people everywhere, regardless of gender, skin color, social origin or sexual orientation! - Stop monitoring! Your privacy is inviolable! Space empty, space here: Create and defend autonomous free spaces! "Etc.
After the free parade, the applicant for the demonstration was reported. In a statement, the chief of operations directed the police “to request that such events no longer be approved. The noise development causes tremendous stress in every body and certainly bodily harm to passers-by and emergency services, but this is almost impossible to prove. "An activist of the demonstration said with regard to the attitude of the Federal Police Directorate Vienna towards the Freeparade that it only had the goal of" to make such demonstrations impossible, even though the demonstration concept was peaceful from the start. ”The police would have cordoned off the final rally proposed by the police. There was also a complaint about the surveillance by the secret service, who worked together with the magistrate's officials, whereby the responsible persons and car numbers were noted.
For the first time, a free parade was held in Paris at the same time as the demonstration in Vienna.
2009
The route of the 3rd Freeparade on June 20 did not run across the entire ring as before, as the Street Festival, an advertising event for the Viennese club scene, took place there on the same day. The chosen time and place for the street festival were viewed by the Freeparade activists as a "hostile act". For an activist of the Freeparade, the street festival embodies “the complete commercialization and exploitation of party culture ... but with the Freeparade we want to prove that anti-commercial self-organization can work and that something can be done without having millions of sponsors behind you . “It was also criticized that a brothel also acted as a sponsor for the street festival. This was ultimately prohibited from participating in the street festival.
As in previous years, the parade started on Mariahilfer Straße, to the displeasure of the police, “because it affects shopping Saturdays. That ... is one of our main motivations [for choosing the starting point, note], because such shopping streets are centers of capitalism. ”The five central slogans of the parade were:“ The crisis is called capitalism ”,“ Fight against sexism and homophobia ”,“ Against one Fortress Europe ”,“ Stop surveillance ”,“ Space empty, space here ”.
2010
The 4th Freeparade on June 19, 2010 led from the Westbahnhof via Mariahilfer Straße, Neubaugasse , Alser Straße , Schottenring and Wollzeile to Karlsplatz. Their motto was “Transform the Norm! Do it yourself! ”Among other things, the demonstration was directed against Section 278a of the Criminal Code , on which the indictment in the Wiener Neustadt animal welfare trial was based, and against the actions of the police at a NOWKR demonstration in the same year. The Freeparade took place in Paris on the same day.
The End
In 2011 there was no free parade in Vienna. The organizers decided not to organize a move for 2011 from the attacks of previous years and the failure of the other parade participants to intervene. In addition, the organization team announced that their personnel strength decreased more and more, so that the effort and responsibility remained with fewer and fewer people.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b "On the road, get set, go!" In: derStandard.at. June 16, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2017 .
- ^ Freeparade in Vienna: Demonstration with a dance factor . In: DiePresse.com , accessed on April 29, 2017.
- ↑ Statement on the Freeparade 2011 ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
