Carnival of Cultures Berlin - Photo Report

What an amazing spectacle and what a cheerful atmosphere - Germany’s capital is in a state of emergency, because of the fifteenth Carnival of Cultures Berlin! About half a million people are on the streets to catch a glimpse at the 4.500 dancers, actors and musicians who party the city and its multiculturalism…

Carnival of Cultures - Karneval der Kulturen

The idea of a carnival which presents the cultural and ethnic diversity of Berlin was developed in 1995, i.e. at a time when – as a consequence to the political and economic changes since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the unification of the two German states – a lot of social, economic and cultural changes happened. Due to these changes, to the economic decline of Berlin and the different economic levels and social and cultural experiences of people in East and West Berlin, social conflicts became more evident and even increased. This state of change resulted, among other things, in a biased and prejudiced view on immigration, which was reflected in the public discussion. (about Carnival of Cultures)

Of course, I joined this year’s Carnival of Cultures procession and thereby one of Berlin’s and Europe’s biggest street parties. To cut a long story short, I took a plenty of photos of the nice samba dancers, traditionally clothed minorities and crazy disguised people. Thereof this small Carnival of Cultures photo report was created…

For more photos (also in hi-res and better quality), visit my photo-stream on Flickr. (Upload is still in progress, so check back later! Upload is finished - 72 nice photos from this year’s Carnival of Cultures are online!)