Security in Heiligendamm

     The week of the G8 summit has been one of the most exciting weeks for the residents of Rostock. It was the biggest event in Rostock this year. This event required a lot of security measures.

   It has been the biggest police operation in Germany ever. 16.000 policemen were stationed in Rostock. On June 2^nd the biggest demonstration of the G8 summit started. The demonstrators were escorted by a lot of security squads. They walked down to the harbor. There was a concert presented by “Attac” and about 70,000 people celebrated peacefully. But by mid-afternoon some members of the so called “black block” began to riot at the harbor. They threw stones against the police. Altogether the demonstration claimed 1000 injured people: 500 policemen and 500 demonstrators.

      On Saturday the police followed the “de-escalation tactic“. They tried not to be involved in the demonstrations. But this failed on June 2^nd. After this disastrous day the police began to act faster against rioting demonstrators. On Saturday and the following week they were much more attentive. All over the place you saw only green police uniforms. There were so many policemen. I couldn’t believe how many they were. All in all they coped with the situation.

      The second big security action, the fence, was also a big “success“. The demonstrators were not able to break down the fence. Only some members from Greenpeace tried to overcome this security installation. One day a hot-air balloon turned up in the sky. The demonstrators tried to get into the barred zone of Heiligendamm. The police forced the demonstrators to land the hot-air balloon. The second incident was a motorboat which attempted to get over the barriers in the sea. They were triumphant until they were picked up by a huge motorboat from the police. That was one of the most exciting moments in the G8 week for me.

      All in all the security measures were really effective. The police did a good job and reacted as fast as possible in fuzzy situations. Owing to a lot of police operations the charges for the G8 summit could be about 30 million euros more some politicians said.

written by F.L., 11.06.2007

After G8

      What is left to say after one week of noise, dirt, observation and fears? I couldn’t care less. If you barricaded yourself at home the G8 summit was bearable. On the other hand you could take many interesting photographs if you were outside!

      So let me say that there were approximately 1,000,000,000 photographs taken while the G8 summit was taking place. Most important for the photographers who want to get a load of money: Pictures of the representatives of the “Group of 8”. Here is an example:

Charming, isn’t it? The crowd wants to see happiness, peace and shaking hands.

      The demonstrators were also a popular motif. When they weren’t throwing stones (or their cameras?) they’ve taken some interesting shots right out of the pit. Who wouldn’t wish to take part in such a nice meeting?

Even more charming, huh?

      I, as a hobby photographer, have to say I’m not sorry about not having taken any photos of this event since it totally annoyed and bothered me. To everyone else who enjoyed this feast: Good luck for your wounds to heal and have fun looking at the photographs if your camera survived it…

written by D.L., 11.06.2007