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  The SPIEGEL G-8 Round-Up: 'This Is A Great Party'

The SPIEGEL G-8 Round-Up 'This Is A Great Party'

Part 2: Demonstrators 1, Police 0

As afternoon settled into evening Wednesday, roads near Bad Doberan were lined with weary protesters returning from battle with police. Thousands left the blockades in front of the gates of Heiligendamm for Camp Reddelich, the main protest camp at the G-8 -- not because they were dispersed by police, but simply because they hadn't thought to prepare to spend the night -- a consequence of having been too successful on the first day of demonstrations.

"We were really surprised by our own success," recounts Paul Adler, a student who flew from Madison, Wisconsin to participate in the protests. "These are the best-planned protests in years. We were scared yesterday, but now we know that we outnumber the police, and that we can outsmart them."

Indeed, the consensus at Camp Reddelich was that the day had gone better than expected: protesters had evaded police, reached the fences surrounding Heiligendamm, avoided violence (at one point inventing a chant to warn fellow activists not to pick up stones along a stretch of train tracks) and, for the most part, managed to avoid injury and arrest.

And the notorious black-clad Black Bloc seemed to have been a positive influence, rather than the destructive influence many people feared: by cutting a barbed-wire fence near one of the blockades, the anarchists gave thousands of other protesters more breathing room as police brought in mobile water cannons.

Nevertheless, the camp was abuzz with nervous energy on Wednesday evening. At the camp's independent media center, a steady stream of demonstrators were reporting alleged police abuses in progress. And no one was willing to predict what the next few days would bring.

"I think the police will certainly change their tactics," says Kevin Smith, a British climate researcher and a resident of Camp Reddelich. "In 2005, in Gleneagles, the police actually surrounded the protest camps and prevented people from leaving." The possibility of being barricaded into the camp was, no doubt, going to be fodder for a lot of heady discussion in the nightly camp meeting, as well as at the smaller meetings organized by the camp's many sub-divided "neighborhoods".

And cracks of tension were arising between different groups of activists. A number of activists returning from the "Alternative G8 Summit" -- a series of lectures, and workshops on progressive themes organized in the city of Rostock -- returned to Camp Reddelich upset that the blockades seems to have dominated the day's events. "Everyone is talking about confrontations with the police right now, but no one will remember them in a week" says Katja Albrecht, an activist who spent the day in a workshop on global trade policy. And an ongoing feud continues to simmer between anarchists and strictly "peaceful protesters".

But, with the last few hours of daylight, most activists seemed intent on restoring their energy, relieving their sunburn and enjoying themselves. Many protesters proudly recounted the day's highlights to one another. (The most commonly referenced triumph: that protesters had forced G-8 organizers into "Plan B" -- shuttling journalists and other members of visiting entourages into Heiligendamm with helicopters and boats -- because roads and rail were blocked). Others simply grabbed a beer and a plate of vegan food prepared at the camp and headed for a live music concert on the field opposite the camp.

Other people, though, couldn't wait to get back to the demonstrations. Among them was Paul Adler: "I'm going to head back to the blockades, as soon as I get enough food and water for myself and for other people."

-- Cameron Abadi in Reddelich, 8:30 p.m. CET, Wednesday

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Unlikely Allies on the March

The anti-G-8 protest movement is a conglomerate of various groups. Just how unlikely the bedfellows are could be seen on Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, a number of protesters in Camp Reddelich got a late start on the march to Bad Doberan. Among them were a crew of black-clad anarchists and a group of orange-clad Hare Krishna devotees, who had decided to travel together. It wasn't long into the march before the anarchists decided to hurl stones at police stationed a few dozen meters away.

Alas, when push came to shove, the group solidarity dissolved like so much incense ash. Those in black bolted into the adjacent woods, while those in orange stood in place and began chanting "Hare Krishna". The police let the chanters continue their mantra and tried their best to chase the suspected anarchists.

Discouraged, the spiritual activists decided to turn back to Camp Reddelich. "We're here to save people's souls," says Maria Cristin, among the Hare Krishna activists -- something which makes it difficult, it appears, to team up with anarchists trying to break other people's bones.

--Cameron Abadi in Reddelich, 8 p.m. CET Wednesday