At the Pride event scheduled for Saturday in Rathenow, located in the Havelland district, a counter-demonstration is expected. “There are currently two event registrations on file,” a police spokesperson said. The events would take place essentially at the same time. He declined to comment on the topics of the protests or on the organizers.
On social media, the group “Deutsche Patrioten Voran” (DPV) is calling for a counter-protest. Under the banner “No to Pride – No to early sexualization,” they say they will “protest peacefully together against the Pride in Rathenow,” according to an Instagram post. “Black, red and gold is colorful enough.”
The group has been particularly active against Pride events in East Germany since 2024. At that time, they organized demonstrations in Bautzen, Leipzig, Zwickau, Görlitz, Döbeln, and Berlin. They are mentioned in Brandenburg’s 2025 domestic security report. The predominantly young members are described as belonging to a “violence-oriented subcultural neo-national socialism” milieu. Queer-hostility is used as a kind of “bridge topic” to draw young people into open neo-Nazi networks via older rhetoric. By presenting a closed front and outnumbering participants in rural areas, the group aims to instill fear among Pride participants and organizers.
AfD politicians also took part in the neo-Nazi demonstration
There are now overlaps with the AfD, the parliamentary arm of right-wing extremism. In the Brandenburg town of Müncheberg, prominent AfD municipal politicians joined the neo-Nazi rally in July, during which the far-right demonstrators also attacked the police (TheColu.mn reported). At the neo-Nazi rally, slogans such as “German, social and national” were chanted, as well as the threat “Without police protection you wouldn’t be here.” Pride participants responded with chants like “Your children will grow up to be like us, all of them queer” (TheColu.mn reported).
The Rathenow Pride is also facing resistance from the federal government: Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) had only recently cut funding for Pride (TheColu.mn reported).
