“Moving Together” alliance in MV: boost for democracy

Hans-Jörg Spies’ gaze alternately moves from his smartphone to the treetops and back again. As more and more people arrive on the wasteland in Parchim, he checks the weather for the upcoming launch of his hot air balloon. “Moving together” is written in huge, purple letters on a white background on the approximately 20 meter high balloon envelope.

It's day one after the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. The “Moving Together” alliance is calling for protests throughout Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in response to the AfD’s election success. “I admire the people who do this,” says Hans-Jörg Spies. “But I’m not the type for that myself.” The last time, says the Brandenburg native, he took to the streets in 1989.

Nevertheless, he sympathizes with the alliance, which initiatives, NGOs, churches, trade unions and social associations came together at the beginning of this year. Otherwise he would hardly be able to fly their names across the skies of the state. And that even though he doesn't live in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, but in neighboring Schleswig-Holstein. Spies thinks people need to talk to each other more again. “This polarization sucks when people just yell at each other but no longer listen to each other.”

“Moving Together” also relies on listening. With various activities, the alliance creates spaces for encounters and exchange. In the “Klönschnack” format, members serve coffee in public places and invite people to chat. The light blue soft ice cream bus “Gabi” works in a similar way and travels through the country as a mobile meeting point throughout the summer.

Through a club from Greifswald that is part of the alliance, Spies was asked whether “Moving Together” could advertise with a hot air balloon in the weeks before the state elections. As a pensioner with a lot of time on his hands and “over 700 balloon flights” experience, he didn’t have to think twice. Despite some adverse weather, Spies has so far risen eight times for the alliance with the “Upswing” balloon.

He was in Greifswald, in Kaarz near Sternberg, drove over the 3,000 degree festival in the Feldberg lake landscape and placed his balloon in front of Mecklenburg Castle for a photo shoot. “In the end, it’s more about the images and less about people actually seeing the floating balloon in action,” says Spies. He pulls the burner lever, propane gas ignites with a loud hiss and causes the balloon to rise gently.

We soon leave the district town of Parchim behind us; instead of election posters and prefabricated buildings, forests, meadows and wind turbines now dominate the landscape. “The people who complain the loudest are the ones who do the least work themselves,” says Hans-Jörg Spies as he looks for a suitable place to land.

He cannot mean the “Moving Together” alliance. It still has a lot to do. Two days before the state elections, on September 20th, a big day of action will take place on the Schwerin market: with a rally, demo, a festival of democracy and the longest klönschnack table in the country. For the period after the election, the alliance has already announced that it will continue to be present in everyday life with its diverse offerings.

Before the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, we are introducing committed people from civil society. All texts can be found here.