Tens of thousands of people celebrated Christopher Street Day in Frankfurt over the weekend. Sunday marked the end of four days of partying with sunshine, music and rainbow flags. This time, anti-queer incidents cast a shadow.
Up to 17 thousand people took part in Saturday’s parade.
Image © Picture Alliance/dpa | Hannes P. Albert
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02:18 Min.|07/18/26, 19:30|hour
More than 15,000 people at the CSD parade in Frankfurt
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To mark the end of the Frankfurt CSD, another celebration took place on Sunday, including a street party on the Main, between Eisernim Steg and Untermainbrücke. In the afternoon, an ecumenical service was also held in the Imperial Cathedral in memory of those who died of AIDS.
Organizers expected a total of 150,000 people to attend the four-day festival, with the theme “Democracy needs no alternative.” On Saturday alone, when the big parade was the main event, between 15,000 and 17,000 people took part, about 5,000 more than expected, a police spokeswoman said.
Additional information
Further CSD dates in Hesse
- August 15: Darmstadt, Eschwege.
- 22 August: Bensheim, Bad Hersfeld, Friedberg.
- August 29: Fulda, Gross-Gerau.
- September 5: Michelstadt
- 19 September: Offenbach.
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Why is CD so important? Participants perform here
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More registered groups than ever before
Organizers said 120 groups had registered for the parade, more than last year. This year it may be the largest CSD ever held in Frankfurt: at least based on the number of cars taking part in the demonstration.
By demonstrating in the city center, participants wanted to draw attention to the rights, equality and visibility of LGBTIQ+ people. The parade went off without incident, unlike the previous night, police said.
Antiqueer attacks in the city center
Anti-gay attacks took place in Frankfurt on Saturday evening. Accordingly, a 62-year-old man was initially attacked and injured at a kiosk in Aller Heiligenviertel while holding hands with his partner.
It is reported that an unknown person hit the man in the face with a glass bottle, referring to his sexual orientation.
Glass bottles were thrown into a strange trendy bar
A little later, the group threw some glass bottles at a strange, trendy bar on Alte Gasse. No one was injured, but property damage was caused. A 21-year-old man was arrested after throwing a bottle.
Police are investigating both cases and checking for anti-queer background.
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Anti-queer attacks: When visibility becomes dangerous
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Interior Minister Roman Posek (CDU) called the attacks ahead of the CSD parade “horrifying.” “Christopher Street Day is a powerful symbol of the diversity of our society and the right of every person to live as they are, freely and without fear.” It is even more offensive that queer people continue to experience hostility, hatred and violence.
At the same time, other demonstrations took place in Frankfurt.
As pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrations also took place with an expected number of hundreds of participants, there were traffic delays in Frankfurt, police said.
A parallel pro-Palestinian demonstration took place in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Image © Frank Angermund (h)
According to initial police estimates, about 250 people took part in the pro-Palestinian demonstration, and about 150 people took part in the pro-Israeli rally.
At the same time, a pro-Israeli demonstration took place.
Image © Frank Angermund (h)