Birlikte

Last updated

Birlikte
Genre Cultural festival
FrequencySemi-annually
Location(s) Cologne
CountryGermany
Inaugurated7 June 2014 (2014-06-07)
Most recent5 June 2016 (2016-06-05)
Website http://birlikte.info

Birlikte is the name and motto of a series of semi-annual rallies and corresponding cultural festivals against right-wing extremist violence in Germany, which first took place on 9 June 2014 in Cologne. The term " birlikte " is Turkish and means "together" (German: "zusammen").

Contents

Birlikte – Zusammenstehen: 7–9 June 2014

Speech by German Federal President Joachim Gauck with all participating speakers and artists on stage in 2014 Birlikte - Kundgebung - 1554 - Rede Bundesprasident Gauck-0685.jpg
Speech by German Federal President Joachim Gauck with all participating speakers and artists on stage in 2014

The concept of a cultural festival named "Birlikte" was based on an idea by Mario Rispo  [ de ], [1] and was further developed and supported by the Cologne Arsch huh, Zäng ussenander (English: "Raise your ass, open your mouth!") campaign.

The first rally "Birlikte – Zusammenstehen" (English: "Birlikte – Standing together") was held on Whit Monday, 9 June 2014, on the occurrence of the tenth anniversary of the nail bomb attacks in Cologne. The festival deliberately took place at a spare area at Cologne's Schanzenstraße  [ de ], near Keupstraße  [ de ], the street, where the National Socialist Underground (German: Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund) (NSU) attacks had happened a decade earlier. [2]

The event comprised a mixture of speeches and multi-cultural music performances. Among the planned speakers and musicians were Stefan Aust, Aynur Doğan, Stephan Bachmann, BAP and Wolfgang Niedecken, the Bläck Fööss, Andreas Bourani, Tom Buhrow, Clueso, Wilma Elles, Eko Fresh, Aladin El-Mafaalani  [ de ], Tommy Engel and L.S.E.  [ de ], Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan, Die Fantastischen Vier, Alexa Feser, Uli Hauser  [ de ], Max Herre, Höhner, Ralf Jäger, the Kölner Jugendchor Sankt Stephan  [ de ], Kasalla  [ de ], Carolin Kebekus, Hardy Krüger senior, Udo Lindenberg, Zülfü Livaneli, Sylvia Löhrmann, Peter Maffay, Microphone Mafia  [ de ], Giusi Nicolini  [ de ] (mayor of Lampedusa e Linosa), Bernhard Paul  [ de ], Meral Sahin, Isabel Schayani  [ de ], Wilfried Schmickler, Semiya Şimşek  [ de ] (the daughter of Enver Şimşek, the first victim of the NSU attacks), Serdar Somuncu  [ de ], Atanasios Tsiolakidis, the Zeltinger Band  [ de ], and the German Federal President Joachim Gauck, who opened the event. [3]

Due to the severe supercell thunderstorm Ela the event had to be terminated prematurely, so that some of the planned guests could no longer perform. This included the solo performances of Udo Lindenberg and Peter Maffay. Parts of the abandoned performance of BAP including the approaching thunder storm were published on the 2014 album Niedeckens BAP: Das Märchen vom gezogenen Stecker - live  [ de ] (English: "The tale of the unplugged plug").

The rally was moderated by Sandra Maischberger and Fatih Çevikkollu  [ de ]. [4] It was attended by a total of around 70000 people. [5]

Birlikte – Zusammenleben: 14 June 2015

Birlikte visitors near the main stage at the Northern end of Keupstrasse [de], Cologne Birlikte - Zusammenstehen - 2015-0090.jpg
Birlikte visitors near the main stage at the Northern end of Keupstraße  [ de ], Cologne

Originally planned as a one-time event only, the festival was repeated on 14 June 2015 under the modified motto "Birlikte – Zusammenleben" (English: "Birlikte – Living together") following continuing threats by right-wing rallies of Pegida and Kögida, but also, because the longwinded NSU trial still hadn't come to an end.

However, this time the event was limited to one day. Also, the organizers didn't rely on a large open-air stage as before, instead the number and size of the other stages was increased, so that effectively more people could participate in the festival compared to 2014. [5] In total, over 500 local and over-regional artists performed on some 30 stages, including Brings, the Bläck Fööss, De Höhner, Eko Fresh, Cat Ballou  [ de ], Kasalla  [ de ], Mariama Kouyaté, Maryam Akhondy, the Microphone Mafia  [ de ], Syavash Rastani Bandari Trance, Wolf Maahn  [ de ] and Jürgen Zeltinger  [ de ].

The concert programme was accompanied by various other activities like theatre performances, speeches and public discussions at the Schauspiel Köln/Carlswerk  [ de ] and in the Keupstraße. Among the participants were Esther Bejarano, Fatih Çevikkollu  [ de ], Lamya Kaddor, Navid Kermani, Rupert Neudeck and Guntram Schneider  [ de ]. According to the organizers, the estimated number of festival visitors was in the 70000s, similar to the numbers a year earlier.

The event started at 11 o'clock in the morning, the last performance ended at 23 o'clock. [6]

Birlikte – Zusammenreden: 27 May – 5 June 2016

When the festival was held for the third time, this time under the motto "Birlikte – Zusammenreden" (English: "Birlikte – Talking together"), the programme was expanded to include a "week of dialogue" with various events distributed all over the city.

This started on 27 May 2016. The event week aimed at initiating a dialogue between the participants and artists, scientists, intellectuals and members of the city council on the possibilities how to improve ways of living together and to overcome cultural, religious and language barriers.

These activities peaked in a huge whole-day art and cultural festival and a central rally held at Keupstraße and at the Carlswerk on 5 June 2016. On 25 stages more than 400 artists should have performed. However, due to a severe weather warning, the main event in Köln-Mülheim had again to be cancelled at 16 o'clock already. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

Cologne City in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Cologne is the largest city of Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city in Germany. With 3.6 million people in the urban region and 1.1 million inhabitants within its city proper, Cologne is the largest city on the river Rhine and also the most populous city of both the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region and the Rhineland. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of NRW's state capital Düsseldorf and 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is classified as a GaWC Gamma+ world city.

Rhine-Ruhr Urban area in Germany

The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers an area of 7,268 square kilometres (2,806 sq mi), entirely within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region spreads from the Ruhr area (Dortmund-Essen-Duisburg-Bochum) in the north to the urban areas of the cities of Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Leverkusen, Cologne, and Bonn in the south. The location of the Rhine-Ruhr at the heart of the European Blue Banana makes it well connected to other major European cities and metropolitan areas such as the Randstad, the Flemish Diamond and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.

BAP (German band)

BAP is a German rock group. With eleven albums reaching the number one in the German record charts, BAP is one of the most successful rock acts in their home country.

Cologne Carnival

The Cologne Carnival is a carnival that takes place every year in Cologne, Germany.

Telekom Electronic Beats (TEB) is an international music marketing program of Deutsche Telekom AG focusing on electronic music and international club culture. The program was founded in 2000. It comprises a media portfolio and has been organizing events such as concerts, festivals and club nights with mainly electronic music artists throughout Europe.

Klaus Heuser German rock guitarist, composer and producer

Klaus "Major“ Heuser is a German musician, composer and producer. He found international fame as the lead guitarist of the Cologne rock band BAP.

Wolfgang Niedecken German singer, rock musician, and visual artist, known for BAP

Wolfgang Niedecken is a German singer, musician, and visual artist. He founded the Kölsch speaking rock group BAP at the end of the 1970s. He soon became famous with BAP all over Germany. He is the lead singer and only remaining founding member of BAP.

Brings German rock and carnival band

Brings are a band from Germany which perform most songs in the local dialect of Cologne, Kölsch. Founded in 1990, they established themselves playing rock music; their lyrics are performed in Kölsch and, since 1995, also in standard German. After the successful single Superjeilezick (2001) they specialized in Cologne party hits.

The Goldene Stimmgabel was an annual prize awarded within the German music scene from 1981 to 2007.

Cologne Bonn Region Metropolitan area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

The Cologne Bonn Region is a metropolitan area in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, covering the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Leverkusen, as well as the districts of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Rhein-Erft-Kreis and Rhein-Sieg-Kreis. The region covers an area of 3,839 km² with 3.13 million inhabitants. The city centres of Cologne and Bonn are 24 kilometres apart as the crow flies. At the outer city limits, there are only 8 kilometres between Cologne-Libur and Bonn-Geislar.

Joachim Gauck Former president of Germany

Joachim Wilhelm Gauck is a German politician and civil rights activist who served as President of Germany from 2012 to 2017. A former Lutheran pastor, he came to prominence as an anti-communist civil rights activist in East Germany.

Ringfest former music festival in Cologne, Germany

The Musikfest am Ring was an annual outdoor music event in Cologne, Germany held for the first time in 1993 and halted in 2006. In various locations of downtown Cologne stages were set up and live bands performed and also other events were presented. The Ringfest used to be held at the MediaPark, on the Cologne Ring and the Neumarkt square. In 1993 some 300000 visitors attended the festival already, growing to around 2000000 people in 1997, causing the organizers to claim the event to be the world's largest music festival. In 2005, about 500000 visitors attended the festival.

National Socialist Underground murders 2000s Neo-Nazi serial murders in Germany

The National Socialist Underground murders were a series of xenophobic murders by the German Neo-Nazi terrorist group National Socialist Underground. The NSU perpetrated the attacks between 2000 and 2007 throughout Germany, leaving ten people dead and one wounded. The primary targets were ethnic Turks, though the victims also included one ethnic Greek and one German policewoman.

2004 Cologne bombing

On 9 June 2004, a nail bomb detonated in Cologne, Germany, in a business area popular with immigrants from Turkey. Twenty-two people were wounded, with four sustaining serious injuries. A barber shop was completely destroyed; many shops and numerous parked cars were seriously damaged by the explosion and by the nails added to the bomb for extra damage. Authorities initially excluded the possibility of a terrorist attack. The bomb, which contained more than 800 nails, was hidden in a travel compartment on a bicycle left in front of the barber shop.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Cologne, Germany.

Marina Mohnen German wheelchair basketball player (born 1978)

Marina Mohnen is a 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who plays for Rhine River Rhinos Wiesbaden in Germany, and previously played for the Mainhatten Skywheelers, RBC Köln 99ers, BAD.S. Quartu Sant' Elena und S. Stefano Sport. She also played with the German national team that won the European title in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015 and was runner-up in 2013. It was also runner-up at the IWBF World Championship in Birmingham in 2010 and in Toronto 2014. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team was voted 2008 Team of the Year in disabled sports, and President Horst Köhler presented it with Germany's highest sports award, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team a second Silver Leaf after it won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the Summer Paralympics in 2016.

AnnenMayKantereit

AnnenMayKantereit is a German rock band founded in Cologne in 2011. Their songs are predominantly performed in German, but the band also occasionally publish cover songs in English. A notable feature of the band's music is the distinctly rough voice of the singer Henning May.

DFL Foundation

The DFL Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to social projects. It was founded in January 2009 by the Deutsche Fußball Liga and Die Liga – Fußballverband, under the name Bundesliga Foundation. It is based in Frankfurt, and the current CEO is Stefan Kiefer.

Arsch huh, Zäng ussenander is the motto and name of a campaign against right-wing violence in Cologne, Germany. The colloquial slogan in the local dialect Kölsch literally means "Ass up, teeth apart!" encouraging people to not look away but to stand up, speak out and take action against racism and injustice.

Enver Şimşek was a Turkish-born businessman in Germany who was the first victim of the series of murders by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) terrorist group. The owner of a flower shop in Schlüchtern in Hesse, he was gunned down on 9 September 2000 at a mobile flower stand in Nuremberg. Two days later he died in a hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the attack.

References

  1. ↑ Rispo, Mario (2016-10-25). Crott, Randi; Große, Gundi (eds.). "Redezeit mit dem Künstler Mario Rispo". WDR 5 Neugier genügt (in German). Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  2. ↑ Pesch, Matthias (2014-06-06). "Anreise & Sperrungen in Mülheim - Das müssen Sie über das "Birlikte"-Fest wissen". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (KStA) (in German). Archived from the original on 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  3. ↑ "Birlikte: Die Highlights im Birlikte-Programm". koeln.de (in German). NetCologne Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH, Abteilung Content. 2014-11-29. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-29.
  4. ↑ ""Birlikte - Zusammenstehen" Köln erinnert an Nagelbombenanschlag". Kölnische Rundschau . Rundschau Online (in German). 2014-06-08. Archived from the original on 2019-05-13. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  5. 1 2 "Neuauflage des Solidaritätsfestes - Birlikte 2015: Kürzer, aber mit genauso viel Programm". koeln.de (in German). NetCologne Gesellschaft für Telekommunikation mbH, Abteilung Content. 2015-01-30 [2015-01-29]. Archived from the original on 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  6. ↑ "Birlikte - Zusammenstehen" (in German). Birlikte Bündnis. 2015-04-15. Archived from the original on 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  7. ↑ Stellmacher, Jan H.; Böhmer, Martin (2016-06-05). "Veranstalter sagen Festival Birlikte komplett ab". Express (in German). Archived from the original on 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2019-05-13.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.