The Hanfparade ( en, Hemp Parade) is a

hemp Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of ''Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants o ...

legalization demonstration in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. It has taken place each year in August since 1997. The traditional course of the parade floats make a prelude through the German capital. In a demonstration, thousands give

and

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

their attention. At the end of the demonstration a closing speech takes place. The parade offers a variety of hemp-related entertainment. The main stage offers mixes of speeches and live-music. National and international musicians entertain the visitors, which often includes high-ranking personalities from politics, culture, medicine and the legalization movement. In the speakers corner an open microphone waits for contributions. The demonstrations so far have always been peaceful, which may be because the police rarely pursue offenses against cannabis possession laws.

2022

The Hanfparade took place on 13 August 2022. The motto for the 26th Hanfparade was ''Hemp is for everyone''.

2021

The Hanfparade took place on 14 August 2021. The motto was ''50 years of prohibition - time for emanzipation''.

2020

The Hanfparade took place on 8 August 2020. The motto was ''Hemp is good - legal even better''. As a result of the Corona pandemic the Hanfparade took place only in the virtual space with a live video stream.

2019

The motto of this year Hanfparade was ''Legalisation only with you'' and took place on 10 August 2019.

2018

The Hanfparade took place on 11 August with the motto ''Education, not prohibition''.

2017

The Hanfparade took place on 12 August. The motto of the year was ''We're getting farther''.

2016

The 20th anniversary of the Hanfparade took place on 13 August 2016. The motto was "Legalization is in the air".

2015

The Hanfparade took place on 8 August. The motto was ''Use Hemp!''.

2014

The Hanfparade took place on 9 August. The motto was ''Green light for the legalisation''.

2013

The Hanfparade took place on 10 August. The motto was ''My choice? Legal Cannabis!''.

2012

The Hanfparade took place on 11 August. The motto was ''Freedom, Health, Justice''.

2011

The Hanfparade took place on 6 August. The motto was ''40 years are enough - no more narcotics law!''.

2010

The next Hanfparade took place on Saturday 7 August 2010. It started at 1:00 p.m. with a speech between TV tower and railway station Alexanderplatz in Berlin under the slogan "Cannabis is (World) Culture". The Hanfparade requests that the entire hemp culture, both the art of using hemp as raw material, as food, as stimulant and as medicine, is allocated to the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO and removed from the present authorities, which are focused solely on criminal prosecution.

2009

Hanfparade took place on 1 August 2009 in Berlin. The motto was "For free choice". The demonstration started at Alexanderplatz and went to Brandenburger Tor.

2008

The 12th Hanfparade took place on 2 August 2008 from TV Tower at Alexanderplatz to Leipziger Platz, next to Potsdamer Platz. The motto was "Youth protection, Consumer protection, Legalize".

2007

The 11th Hanfparade took place on 25 August 2007 in Berlin.Hanfparade website

2006

The 10th Hanfparade took place on 5 August 2006 in Berlin. It took place under the motto, "Legalization now! Reorient your opinion instead of giving billions away!" and led a march down Unter den Linden to the

Brandenburger Tor The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II after restoring the Orangist power by suppressing the Dutch popular unrest. One ...

from the

Alexanderplatz () ( en, Alexander Square) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin. The square is named after the Russian Tsar Alexander I, which also denotes the larger neighbourhood stretching from in the nort ...

across the Oranienburger. Intermediate demonstrations took place in front of Kunsthaus Tacheles and the British embassy. Approximately 1500 participants took part in the parade. At the Brandenburger Gate there was a hemp market with several hemp panels and hemp plants. The police managed to cut several thousand hemp plants down at the Brandenburger Gate, although the organizers had permission for it. At the conclusion of the demonstration there was a six-hour closing speech at the Platz des 18. März.

2005

The Hanfparade took place on 13 August 2005 in Berlin. It took place under the motto, "We are the hemp!"—a play on the slogan ''" Wir sind das Volk!"'' used by the East Germans before the opening of the

inner German border The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...

. The demonstration started at 12:00 at the city hall Rotes Rathaus accompanied by five parade floats and by the citizens of Berlin city center. The parade was again smaller than in the previous years with 1000 to 1200 participants. This was because (among other things) the closing speech was forbidden at short notice by the office responsible for green area. The police enacted substantial controls and wrote 24 announcements because of offenses against the '' BtMG'' (German narcotic law).

2004

The Hanfparade took place on 14 August 2004 at the Alexanderplatz in Berlin at 12:00. About 3,500 people attended the demonstration, and at the meeting area about 8000 were present.

2003

The Hanfparade began at 12:00 on 23 August 2003 with a 60-minute demonstration before the Federal Ministry of Finance at the William route (between Leipziger road and Niederkirchnerstrasse) in Berlin. The parade of 13 floats ran peacefully. There were announcements however due to offenses against the Betäubungsmittelgesetz. About 5,000 demonstrators, including

Hans-Christian Ströbele Hans-Christian Ströbele (; 7 June 1939 – 29 August 2022) was a German politician and lawyer. He was a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, the German green party. Education and early career Ströbele was born on 7 June 1939 in Halle, Saale, ...

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

), representatives of the Green Party Youths, The Left Party and the Grey Panthers Party, participated in the demonstration.

2002

The 2002 Hanfparade included a march to the

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (in German: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, but mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche ) is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regi ...

with about 10,000 people. The participants motto was "For hemp use! Against hemp abuse! Education instead of prohibition!" An excerpt from a speech of Hans Christian Ströbele was used in the song ''Gebt das Hanf frei!'' from

Stefan Raab Stefan Konrad Raab (born 20 October 1966) is a German television producer, businessman, musician, and former entertainer and television host. From 1999 to 2015, he hosted the late-night comedy talk show ''TV total'' and has also created a numbe ...

2001

"No war against plants" was the slogan of the 5th Hanfparade. The visitors celebrated with a party before marching on the Berlin City Hall. "I'm a stoner and it is good to be it!", people were saying.

2000

For the

millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

''Hanfparade'' participants from all over the world demanded, "Legalize it globally." Only a storm could impair the good tendency of 10,000 of the participants somewhat.

1999

Hopes of a new and better millennium drove several tens of thousands of people to the hemp parade. Their motto was, "Into the future with hemp." For the first time, representatives of all parties except the Christian Democratic Union spoke.

1998

In the election year, nearly 50,000 people flew into Berlin under the slogan, "The fight continues," they demanded the legalization of hemp from the new Federal Government.

1997

Ten thousand followed the call "of the Herumschweifenden Haschrebellen" and H.A.N.F., a registered association for the first country wide demonstration for hemp. With their route to the Brandenburger Gate they demanded "Legalization now!"

References

External links

* {{cannabis 1997 establishments in Germany category:1997 in cannabis Cannabis activism Cannabis culture Cannabis events Cannabis in Germany Cannabis law reform Culture in Berlin Hemp Parades in Berlin Protest marches Protests in Germany Recurring events established in 1997