Saturday afternoon, Revaler Straße. Trucks with sound systems, a few thousand people, and a demo train heading for Rotes Rathaus.

It is a protest. It is also, functionally, a free open-air.

What it is

A100 wegbassen — roughly, bass the A100 away. Third year in a row. The target is the 17th construction section of the A100 city motorway, the stretch planned from Treptower Park past Ostkreuz to Storkower Straße.

The 16th section opened in August 2025. 3.2 kilometres, twelve years of construction, 720 million euro — the most expensive stretch of motorway ever built in Germany. The 17th is the next one. In March 2026 the federal government confirmed it as firmly scheduled.

Why it is our story

Because of what is in the way.

The campaign's own line: motorway construction destroys urban space, green space and housing, and pushes out clubs and small business. That is not a metaphor here. The route runs through the east — Ostkreuz, Friedrichshain, the corridor where a large share of this city's nightlife sits.

The demo starts at RAW-Gelände. Which is itself under threat. Read that twice.

Saturday, step by step

13:00, RAW-Gelände, Revaler Straße. The train moves via Simplonstraße, Revaler Straße, Warschauer Straße, Mühlenstraße, Stralauer Platz, Holzmarktstraße and Alexanderstraße to Rotes Rathaus.

16:00, everything converges. A100 wegbassen is one of seven columns in a bigger thing called the Sterndemo — "Zeit, dass sich was dreht" — with over 80 organisations walking in star formation from all directions onto Rotes Rathaus for a joint closing rally. Themes across the seven: climate justice, social participation, mobility, anti-racism, feminism, defence of democracy.

Fridays for Future's climate justice column leaves Moritzplatz at 13:30 and joins the wegbassen train. There are bike feeders too — Savignyplatz from 13:00, Großer Stern at 14:00.

The timing is not an accident. The Berlin election is one week later.

What to expect

Previous editions drew around 5,000 people by police count, and the police count is always the low one. Expect trucks, expect bass, expect the Warschauer Straße corridor closed for a chunk of the afternoon. If you are trying to cross the east by car on Saturday, do not.

Bring water. It is an afternoon of walking in the sun, not a club.

One thing worth saying plainly: this is a political demonstration that happens to sound like a rave, not a rave that happens to have a banner. Previous editions have taken flak from residents over noise and rubbish. Take your bottles with you.

Where to go after

The closing rally is at Rotes Rathaus, so the day ends in the middle of town. A few options, roughly in order of how far you still have to move.

Closest is CAGE by UNDR at AMT — two minutes on foot, doors 22:00, techno and hard techno until nine in the morning. Music-first kinky night, which is why there is a dress code: sexy techno, kinky, fetish. Wear it under your demo clothes or bring a bag. Tickets on RA.

The other three take you as you are.

Insolar (Day Into Night) at Fitzroy, Holzmarktstraße 15. 15:00 to 05:00, so it is already running while you are still walking — the demo comes down Holzmarktstraße on its way to the Rathaus. Daura, Remove Me, Sookie, Galo. An RA Pick, and you can walk in whenever.

Tresor invites Surgeon at Tresor, Köpenicker Straße 70. 23:00 to 11:00 across Tresor and Globus. Surgeon, re:ni, Erik Jabari, Phalcon, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy. About fifteen minutes on foot from the Rathaus.

FOREVER 25, curated by Franca & Mimi Love at Kater, Holzmarktstraße 25. Running since Friday 22:00 and not stopping until Monday morning. Still going long after the demo has packed up.

Three of those four sit on or beside the route. Which is either good planning or just what this part of town is.