For decades “autonomen” – anarchists and far-left demonstrators – have held an annual “Revolutionary May 1st protest” in Berlin’s Kreuzberg.
The past few years have seen some decline in the level of violence, particularly due to a family-friendly “My-fest” festival, that has been organized in the same area since 2003, drawing in enough peaceful by standers to dampen the ardor of protesters.
This year almost 20.000 demonstrators hit the streets. Riot police from all over Germany were streaming into the capital to keep the area under control.
