500 Adrenaline Adventures (Frommer's) - Lois Friedland [251]
The bridge is a shining symbol of unity, which is all the more ironic as the street fight is a grubby emblem of disunity. It connects the two districts of Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg, which were separated for half a century by the Cold War. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, the authorities thought it prudent and right that both districts should be joined. However, they never discussed it with the residents, who resented assimilation with the other. In 1998 the first crowds gathered on the bridge to taunt and challenge the other side. The idea was to conquer, not unite, and people from Kreuzberg referred to Friedrichshain mockingly as East Kreuzberg and in turn Kreuzberg was referred to its opponents as Lower Friedrichshain. What began as a simple water and flour fight evolved into an elaborate free for all, with some years seeing near riots with cars set alight and buildings damaged. Police frequently step in to stop the event and it was cancelled in 2006 and 2007. In 2003 an angry mob turned on the intervening police and pelted them with stockpiled fruit and eggs.
The whole chaotic event has a leftwing, punkish, anarchic air with more than a few participants sporting mohawks and tattoos. Gangs are formed with names such as the Cynical Offensive Brigade and they gather shopping carts, homemade water cannon, and scaffold attack towers. The only rule is that no fresh food can be used and the event is open to anybody brave enough to face the fray. If you do decide to go to battle, join the Kreuzberg crew. They have never won a battle yet as they are heavily outnumbered by much larger Friedrichshain. They desperately need your help and all your rubbish. —CO’M
When to go: July.
Berlin.
$$ Adina Apartment Hotel Checkpoint Charlie, Krausenstrasse 35–36 ( 49/30/2007670; www.adina.eu). $$ Mercure Hotel Checkpoint Charlie, Schützenstrasse 11( 49/30 206320;www.accorhotels.com).
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Civil War Reenactment
War Fair
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
The glow of campfires and flickering candles behind white canvas tents fades out as the sun rises over the rolling hills of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At 5am the bugle call of reveile prods the bearded soldiers from their sleep and they gather around the remaining embers of the campfire to drink oily coffee. Some dig out salt pork and hard tack from crumpled waxed paper for breakfast before battle, while others put on hand-knit wool socks and wrap up their blanket rolls. This is as authentic a civil war scene as you’ll get, until someone admires a fellow soldier’s Otis Baker braces and the wearer describes enthusiastically how he got them for a bargain on Craig’s List. Another shows a companion how he got his once shiny buttons to tarnish nicely with a little nail polish remover. Still, the thrill of being on-site at this, one of the most historied battlefields in the world, is timeless.
Every weekend thousands of men and some women gather at a civil war battle site somewhere along the Mason Dixon line to reenact a bloody episode from the momentous conflict. While the real war was split between north and south, federals and confederates, modern day reenactors are split between lightweights known as farbs and hardcore authentics known as stitch Nazis for their obsession with hand stitching every item of clothing down to their underwear. Some take their task so seriously they will sleep in ditches and march miles weighed down with rifles, bayonets, and knapsacks.
The most famous of these simulated battles is Gettysburg. The key battle of the civil war, where Robert E. Lee was forced to abandon his invasion of the north, is now an annual get-together for history buffs, tourists, and hardcore reenactors. Based around the July 4th holidays, the 3-day event sees five major battle reconstructions, live mortar fire demonstrations, and a living