Berlin 'COVID-19 protest rally' photo was taken in 1997

The Statement

A Facebook post¹ featuring an aerial photo of Berlin, claims five million people from across Europe gathered in the German capital for a protest against COVID-19 restrictions.

The August 31 post reads, "Berlin. Yesterday 5 million from all over Europe gathering for the Unite for Freedom Rally. They are expected to stay upto (sic) 5 days or more as they demand for the government to resign."

The August 31 post has generated more than 440 shares and around 18,000 views.

The Analysis

The post's claim of five million attending the Unite for Freedom rally in Berlin features an aerial crowd photo of the German capital, however the image is not from the August 29 protest but a music festival in 1997. The estimated crowd figures for the Berlin rally were also much smaller than the post's claim.

There were several protests against COVID-19 restrictions held in European cities on August 29 including Berlin² as well as the Unite for Freedom rally in London³. News reports estimate between 18,000⁴ to 38,000⁵ people took to the streets in Berlin where the demonstration turned violent when protesters tried to storm the German parliament, the Reichstag⁶.

Using a reverse image AAP FactCheck found the Facebook post's photo was taken on July 12, 1997⁷ at the Berlin Love Parade by photographer Robert Grahn. Grahn, who owns the aerial imagery agency Euroluftbild⁸, captured the image above Ernst-Reuter-Platz in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin.

The Love Parade⁹ techno music festival was founded in 1989 by DJ Matthias Roeingh, aka Dr Motte¹⁰, as a way of spreading peace and joy. In 1997, crowd estimates for the festival were between 750,000 to 1.5 million people¹¹.

It's not the first time photos from separate events have been used on social media to mislead on  the size of protests. AAP FactCheck previously debunked a similar claim¹² where a photo from a 2019 music festival in Zurich was used for a Berlin march against measures to stop COVID-19.

False - The primary claim of the content is factually inaccurate.

* AAP FactCheck is accredited by the Poynter Institute's International Fact-Checking Network, which promotes best practice through a stringent and transparent Code of Principles. https://aap.com.au/