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Sarah Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer had called for a »rebellion for peace«, and around 13,000 people came to the Brandenburg Gate.
Their demands: No more arms deliveries to Ukraine and peace negotiations with Putin.
'He is the initiator of this war and for that reason one must negotiate with him. As bad as that is. And you can't say he's some bastard or some criminal. I don't sit at the table with him."
»I lived for 40 years in a state that said never again war. I want it to continue like this.«
"Let me state very clearly that I believe our politics are controlled by the United States."
In the run-up to the event, it was heavily criticized.
The initiator duo, left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and »Emma« editor Alice Schwarzer, whose »Manifesto for Peace« petition has been signed by more than 600,000 people, has not succeeded in clearly distinguishing itself from the right-wing extremist spectrum.
Some participants did not seem to mind.
"First of all, we don't demonstrate with fascists as a matter of principle, but I believe that many people who are here are definitely not left-wing, but they still have interests and those are interests for peace. And that's why we stand with them.«
The majority of the demonstration was made up of leftists and peace activists, but there were also right-wing extremists, conspiracy ideologues and well-known personalities from the lateral thinker movement - such as Michael Bründel from Berlin, known as "Captain Future".
Michael Bründel, »Captain Future«
»And in the Second World War.
We are, have we forgotten everything?
We drove against Russia with tanks.
Do we want to do this again?
Have we forgotten the story?
.
We cannot send tanks against Russia again.
Do you still have them all?”
The federal government was defamed in several speeches and asked to resign - the main enemy, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
There were also counter-protests – with posters against the right and Ukraine flags.
'Which is hypocritical. Of course, this is not peace-building, it is ultimately just a convenience, the Germans' own convenience, to be left alone and to be able to go on with their everyday lives.«
Finally, Wagenknecht called for further protests - the "uprising for peace" was only the "starting signal for a new, strong peace movement".