Rave the Planet organiser Dr. Motte criticised for displaying Covid conspiracy group Querdenker’s symbol during parade
Dr. Motte has denied knowledge of the symbol's meaning, and apologised for his "careless action"
The organiser of Berlin's Rave the Planet, Dr. Motte, has been criticised for displaying the symbol of the Querdenker COVID conspiracy group during last weekend's parade.
In a short clip that has been circulated online, which you can see below, Motte is seen holding up a 'Freedom Parade' sticker from the Querdenken ("lateral thinking") organisation. The group are known for their extreme opposition to COVID measures and anti-vaccine stance. They have also been condemned for displaying anti-semitic tropes at rallies and for their alleged association with the far-right and anti-Semitic groups such as the right-wing populist political party AfD.
In a statement shared on his Facebook page yesterday (12th July), Motte denied any association with Querdenken, saying he didn’t recognise what the symbol represented and that the situation was “a big misunderstanding on my part”.
He added: “I definitely and explicitly distance myself from the so-called ‘Querdenkern’. I also have no friends or acquaintances there. Up to now we cannot understand how this sticker got on the float. We will investigate this.”
Over 200,000 people attended the Rave the Planet parade last weekend, which featured a free parade on the Saturday 9th July with over 100 DJs and a variety of floats from different crews and collectives.
Motte claims he believed the sticker to have something to do with this month's 'Freedom Parade' in Łódź, Poland, an offshoot of the original Love Parade, which he has been invited to DJ at. He wrote: “They were also represented on our Polish float at the Rave The Planet Parade, last Saturday, and therefore I thought the sticker was from our friends.”
He continued: “I’m aware that a person in my position has a great responsibility. I'm terribly sorry that I behaved in such a thoughtless way. I regret that this careless action caused so much confusion. I apologise to the fans of the Love Parade and the fans of Rave The Planet, to all artists, speakers and crews, and to the whole team of Rave The Planet, that their years of intensive work on building up and realising the parade will be damaged by this. This is the very worst for me, it makes me extremely sad and I am very, very sorry.”
Some have questioned Dr Motte’s alleged ignorance about the meaning of Querdenkern’s symbol. A clip and photograph shared on Twitter show him interacting with COVID-sceptic DJ and Querdenken member, Captain Future, who is seen holding an anti-lockdown sign which reads “Nie wieder Lockdown!”
As Groove points out, Motte has drawn backlash for controversial comments in the past, with a section of his website dedicated to his responses and apologies. In a 1995 interview with Der Tagesspiegel he allegedly said: "Dies ist mein Aufruf an alle Juden der Welt, sie sollen doch mal eine neue Platte auflegen. Und nicht immer nur rumheulen", which translates to "This is my call to all Jews in the world to put on a new record. And don't just cry".
In 2009, he was criticised for a speech in which he alleged the "peace sign" was an "inverted man rune", which he'd learned from a "Nazi book". He also spoke about the "bad, gay politics that nobody needs" of former Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit. Appointed in 2001, Wowereit was the city's first openly gay mayor.
