BERLIN (AP) — Hamburg's Pride parade, one of Germany's biggest, made its way through the port city with increased security on Saturday, a week after a fatal extremist attack near its counterpart in Berlin.
Police and organizers said that about 300,000 people attended, compared with around 260,000 last year, German news agency dpa reported. Hamburg's police chief said earlier this week that roughly twice as many officers as last year would protect the event.
The Hamburg event's motto this time was “Queer in solidarity. Take a stand — for a future without fear.”
A late addition to the dozens of trucks taking part was one representing the Berlin Pride event — or Christopher Street Day, CSD for short, as the parades are known in Germany. People on that truck were asked to wear dark clothing as a sign of respect for the victims of last week's attack.
“After the brutal attack on the CSD in Berlin, many are unsure in the queer community but also in society whether here and today is the right place,” Hamburg's deputy mayor, Katharina Fegebank, told RTL television. “I say, now more than ever.”
“When you look at the atmosphere here, you can see that there’s still joy. At least, that’s how it seems to me,” CSD organizer Manuel Opitz said. “I think we carry the grief in our hearts — and Berlin in our hearts, too — but we’re bringing our pride out onto the streets, and you can see that.”
Late on July 25, a driver plowed a van into people a few hundred meters (yards) from the closing party of the Berlin Pride event before cutting others with what appears to have been a machete. A woman was killed and many other people were injured.
The 21-year-old suspect, Abdul Ballout, was killed in a confrontation with police on Sunday. Investigators later found a video in which a person believed to be the suspect claimed responsibility and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Prosecutors have said Ballout, who was born in Germany and has Lebanese roots, traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join IS. He made contact with several people who were presumed members.
