Die Ritterinnen

On Labour Day 1987, a riot broke out in Kreuzberg which gave this west-Berlin district its legendary reputation - a reputation which has prevailed right up to the present day. During the night of 1 May, the Berlin police used force to try and break up a street party - and triggered off a riot in which old and young, Turks, Germans, anarchists and ordinary citizens battled shoulder to shoulder to repel state authority.The riot ended with the police in retreat, a supermarket in flames and one more problem for Berlin's Senator for Internal Affairs. How was he to keep a district in check when the inhabitants were clearly hell-bent on protesting against the Queen's and Ronald Reagan's visits as well as the International Monetary Fund conference? Kreuzberg's anarchists included a group of women living in an apartment in Ritterstrasse, or "Knight Street"