Review: Heaven and Hell at Himmelfahrt

- May 18, 2013

I knew Himmelfahrt, or Ascension day, had begun when I spotted a group of guys dressed as Superman drinking shots from a bar-on-wheels that they'd set up in front of Zoo station, at 10 a.m. Just after my day finally ended at 10 p.m., I passed a group of crusty left wingers who were being taken on by an aggressive preppie. (Apparently he thought that they said 'heil Hitler' to him, which is a pretty creative excuse for a punch-up).

Himmelfahrt is a supposedly religious public holiday in Germany. In other Christian countries its a day for prayer but here, it's a day for getting nowhere on the trains because people keep falling in front of them piss-drunk, and starting fights on the platform; a day when people are spilling drinks on you left right and center, and you have a very high chance of witnessing or getting caught up in a mindless punch-up. Basically, it's a special holiday set aside for the same tiresome behaviours we see daily on the evening news or at sporting events. It's neither special nor particularly holy and reminds me of those "demonstrations" that are held by people who are already in power, like Trump support rallies and actions that demand that men be given equal rights.

In between these typical Himmelfahrt scenes that I saw - ranging from sheer silliness, to mass male testosterone overdrive - I managed to escape into the perfect refuge: a speedcore / breakcore party near to Treptow. A crowd with no particular affiliation to any one gender, religion or nationality over the other, it had an anything-goes atmosphere that wasn't forced and the music was as non-stereotypical as the people there... which makes a far better cause for celebration, as these pictures show.