Berlin metro station gets rainbow makeover after Reichstag Pride flag row
Germany's conservative leaders of the Christian Union parties (CDU/CSU) have taken a... well, conservative, stance on Pride this year - which is to say they wont be caught supporting it.
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) announced at the beginning of the month that the rainbow flag wouldn't be hoisted in front of the Reichstag this year, breaking with a tradition introduced in 2022 by the previous traffic light government. Klöckner also ordered members of parliament to remove rainbow flags displayed in their offices, citing Bundestag house rules that prohibit the posting of notices, posters and other signs on doors and walls.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) doubled down in comments he gave to
ARD
, saying the Reichstag building "is not a circus tent".
A number of German leaders from opposition parties criticised the decision, as well as the Chancellor's comments in particular.
The former mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, who came out in 2001,
told
ZDF
that Merz had a "great responsibility" and that he shouldn't "make such stupid comments".
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Interestingly, Berlin's municipal transport company has taken it upon itself to put more rainbow colours on display around Germany's political centre.
People walk up a staircase painted in rainbows in the Bundestag U-bahn station. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Malin Wunderlich
On Wednesday, BVG decorated the Bundestag U-Bahn station with a rainbow colours on the stairs and a Pride flag painted on its entrance.
In a post on its Instagram page, BVG wrote "We are happy to help you fly the flag." In the photo's caption, BVG added "So our Bundestag is not ready for CSD."
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A post shared by Weil wir dich lieben (@bvg_weilwirdichlieben)
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U-Bahn service disruptions in Berlin highlight systemic issues
Germany's largest Pride parade
Berlin's CSD demo is set to kick off on Saturday at 12pm at Leipziger Straße / Charlottenstraße and make its way past the Bundesrat to Nollendorfplatz and then around to the Brandenburg Gate.
The theme for this year is "Never again quiet!"
On the event
website
, the CSD organisers write, "At a time when the achievements of recent decades are being questioned and attacks on the queer community are increasing, protest remains indispensable this year."
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For example, Ukraine's combat zone is absolutely packed with jammers, jamming devices and air defense systems, the sort of thing you'd never get anywhere else, not on a NATO training ground, in simulations in Germany, nor in the US. The defense industry recognizes this, Gressel says. Quantum Systems' Kruck can confirm that. "Drone development is a game of cat and mouse," he told DW. "Only those who are on site can adapt to all the constant changes. Our insights from Ukraine flow directly into our product development, which we make available to all our customers worldwide." He sees his company's work in Ukraine as a "flagship project" and wants to encourage others to emulate it. The UCDI's Fedirko would like to see this kind of cooperation go even further. "Germany is a country with typical European bureaucracy," he admits. "So it takes time to get things done. But when the Germans say they're doing something, we Ukrainians know it will get done." 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