Berlin Rebels Fight to Halt Mcdonald's Drive-thru

Berlin's famously rebellious Kreuzberg district is fighting to remain one of the last McDonald's-free zones in Europe, having rediscovered its radical spirit in the run-up to next week's G8 summit.

In what has been coined the "burgher versus burger" battle, protesters in Germany's most multicultural, anti-bourgeois corner want to stop the fast-food chain from opening a "drive-thru" eatery that is due to start business in August. It would be the chain's 60th branch in Berlin.

The campaigners, led by the district's Green and vegetarian MP, have been fired up by the G8 protest movement - which has its base in Kreuzberg.

"McDonald's aggressive expansion strategy and production and working conditions are unacceptable, and a danger to the small businesses of Kreuzberg," said Boris Jarosch, a political scientist and member of the anti-McDonald's initiative.

"If they build this branch, Kreuzberg will become Heiligendamm," said Sarah Miller, 29, the founder of the campaign, referring to the G8 venue on Germany's Baltic coast where 16,000 police and 11,000 soldiers are bracing themselves for clashes with demonstrators before and during the June 6-8 summit.

McDonald's has said it cannot understand the fuss, as it bought the plot of land for the restaurant five years ago.