Rotten tomatoes, smelly fish, loads of water and even dirty diapers. These are the weapons for the legendary water fight between the inhabitants of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Whether the smelly fruit is going to fly over the Oberbaumbrücke this year is still uncertain. The official permit is lacking, but the groups are willing to fight.
Smack! Another rotten tomato landed on Frederick’s shoulder just when he was throwing something smelly into the crowd. That’s how it looks when inhabitants of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain measure their strength in the legendary water fight, so called Wasserschlacht. And that’s how it should look on the Oberbaumbrücke on the last Sunday in August 2011. There should be a lot of water, rotten vegetables and maybe even dirty diapers flying around but the event does not have an official permit to be held this year. Nevertheless, it is possible that some smelly bananas will fly over the bridge anyway.
Water, fruit, vegetable, eggs and fish. These are not ingredients for a delicious dinner, but weapons for the annual fight between inhabitants of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. And the more rotten, the better.
What started as a protest against the union of two parts of Berlin has turned into an iconic event over the years. It has even made its way to the tourist guides. “It’s more a parody of the former arguments those two quarters had together. Certainly nothing serious,” laughs Friedrichshainer Frederick Söhnfelder who took part in the battle three years ago. “On the one hand it is really disgusting, but on the other hand it is like a child’s dream comes true. Have you never dreamed about rising from the table and throw a plate full of spaghetti on someone’s head? ” he asks and blinks playfully.
How it all started? The turning point was the city’s administrative decision to merge those two districts – Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain – together. “Nobody asked us what we wanted. So we decided to put Kreuzbergers on the one side and the Friedrichshainers on the other side of the bridge. Whoever won would be master of the district,” explains Hauge Stewie, the organizer of the Friedrichshain’s forces, in a short documentary movie about the Wasserschlacht. (kommt vielleicht nohc, ist angefragt)
Friedrichshain is also the district which has won every battle so far. “I think it is because people from Kreuzberg are much more posh compared to the people from Friedrichshein. They are not that into getting their hands dirty,” means 29-year old Katarina, who lives in Kreuzberg. She personally thinks throwing fresh food would be much better. “I found it a bit awkward to throw rotten fruits and vegetables on each other because it smells so bad,” she explains.
Katarina herself has never taken part in the battle, but she had to walk on the bridge afterwards several times. “And it was really disgusting,” she sniffs like she was still able to feel the odour. But as far as the bridge gets cleaned, she has no problem with the event. “Although I’m not sure who’s responsible for cleaning, it gets cleaned. And that’s all I care about,” she shrugs her shoulder.
This opinion is generally shared between the inhabitants of Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain who have not been involved in the fights. “I don’t really care about it. I’m not going to participate, but I’m not going to protest against it either,” claims old Maria Heur who resides in Friedrichshain.
Whether the event is really going to happen this year is still uncertain. Only a few days before the event should take place the organizers from the Pirate Party and WAF took off their official request. “Unfortunately, there will be no fight this year. We will have to take the preparations more seriously next year,” stated some of the “fighting” groups on-line.
Anyway, several users on the internet appealed to people to come on the bridge no matter what. So the possibility that some smelly food will fly over the most beautiful bridge in Berlin again still exists. At least for the next year it certainly does.
By: Tereza Režňáková (Czech Republic)
