Leipzig takes walk on black side with three-day Goth gathering

Black is the new black this weekend in Leipzig, as tens of thousands of Goths from around the world descend on the Saxon city for their annual get-together.

Wrapped in lace, leather or latex – and covered in inches of make-up – the “Wave Gothic Meet-Up” (WGT) over Pentecost weekend has been a fixture in the Leipzig calendar since just after German unification.

For three days, people who see no contradiction in loving both Victorian funeral fashion and post-punk music gather to celebrate a much-maligned subculture that is as hard to define as it is impossible to kill. After all, it may be already dead.

"We don't eat babies or sleep in coffins," said Heinz Madsen, who attends the WGT meet-up as "Count von Black", to local radio.

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Together with his partner Vicky, this weekend the Goth bride “Vicktoria”, the Leipzig weekend is a chance to let it all hang out.

Whether Frankenstein celebrating its 200th anniversary this year – or Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, Goths are happiest with classy gloom: castles, cemeteries, ghosts and the powerful whiff of patchouli perfume.

The modern scene has its roots in 1980s England and brought forth The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees. But Goth culture has diversified since then and is now a broad church that welcomes sub-scenes such as Industrial, Steampunk, Dark Wave and even something called Bat Cave.

Extravagant aesthetic

This guarantees an extravagant aesthetic – think Gay Pride meets Halloween – drawing on pagan symbols, Victorian dress and the embrace of the occult.

WGT, like the Goth scene itself, is a good-natured celebration of decay, decadence and, of course, death. For that reason Mexico’s cheerier approach to death and memento mori will be celebrated this year in Leipzig, already one of eastern Germany’s most colourful cities.

From humble beginnings – and just 2,000 visitors – in 1992, Leipzig's embrace of diversity in the post-wall years has paid rich dividends for local business: last year the Goth gathering attracted over 20,000 visitors from as far away as Argentina, Australia, Peru and even Japan.

As well as dressing up, the gathering attracts more than 200 acts such as "The Eternal Afflict" or "Wardruna", the Norwegian musical collective behind music in TV show Vikings.

The first aesthetic highlight of the weekend was Friday afternoon’s Victorian picnic in a city park, with tea and sandwiches enjoyed in hooped skirts and top hats. Another must: a visit to the “Heathen Village” to enjoy refreshments and confess your failings while being tormented in the stocks. Those of more sensitive disposition might favour the “knitting afternoon for black romantics”.

There are readings, exhibitions, film screenings and even a children’s programme to indoctrinate the Goths of tomorrow. For long-time attendees, the Wave Goth Meet-up is about escaping social norms and gender roles into a parallel world that values aesthetics and intelligence equally.

“The Goth scene is important because I can live out how I want to be without someone setting rules,” said René Schuhmacher, a musician and WGT regular. “It’s not a Punch and Judy show but a way of life.”