Antifa protest action

1600 demonstrated against the right-wing Burschenbundball

The demonstrators marched across the Nibelungen Bridge in Linz under police escort.(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024)

An impressive number of anti-fascists marched from the AEC Linz across the Nibelungen Bridge towards the Kaufmännisches Vereinshaus late on Saturday afternoon. 1600 demonstrators protested loudly and with banners against the Burschenbundball taking place there, for which LH Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) had assumed the honorary patronage. 

The anti-fascists gathered in front of the Ars Electronica Center (AEC) at 5.30 pm. The procession then set off. According to the police, around 1600 people took part (according to the organizers, there were 2500). After a lap around the New City Hall, the procession crossed the Nibelungen Bridge to Linz's main square and continued via Taubenmarkt and Landstraße.

The governor's honorary patronage of the right-wing ball was met with outrage(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024)

The "Linz against the Right" alliance has been organizing this demonstration for ten years. "The Burschenbundball is not just a dance event, but a networking event where right-wing extremists and German nationalists meet with top representatives from business and politics. In Germany and Austria, people take to the streets in the name of democracy. In Upper Austria, too, we are showing that we will not tolerate enemies of democracy," said alliance spokesperson Eva Reiter in the run-up to the event.

People demonstrated with banners against the right-wing fraternity ball(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024)

She criticized the fact that Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) had once again taken over the honorary patronage of the ball this year - to which the German nationalist fraternity Arminia Czernowitz, among others, had invited: "Even though the governor did not attend the ball this year, he had no problem supporting it with his honorary patronage and sees no need to distance himself." 

The protest was peaceful(Bild: © Harald Dostal / 2024)

A large contingent of police officers accompanied the demonstrators. Everything was apparently peaceful until the end of the rally; according to the police, there were no incidents worth mentioning.