Some half-million revelers  joined Berlin‘s annual CSD (Christopher Street Day) celebration on Saturday, making it one of the largest Pride events in Europe.

A change in the parade route brought grumblings from those wanted it to include the traditional gayborhood of Schöneberg, but the new path cut through Kreuzberg, exposing participants to another major hub of the city’s diverse LGBT community. In addition to lighthearted elements—like barely clad Lufthansa flight attendants with their uniforms painstakingly painted on their bodies—the parade observed moments of silence in front of the Jewish and gay holocaust memorials, and stopped before the Russian embassy to protest that country’s anti-gay laws.

As it does every year, CSD ended in the mid-city Tiergarten, where a festival—with performances at the iconic Brandenburg Gate—lasted well into the evening.

Click through for more imagess from CSD Berlin 2012.  And submit your own Pride photos in the GayCities Pride Photo Challenge to win great prizes.