“Ten … nine … eight … seven … six!” There are still a few seconds to midnight, the temperatures up here on the Kreuzberg are still a stifling 20 degrees. And yet it feels like New Year’s Eve.
It is the night from Friday to Saturday. In a few seconds, the contact restrictions to contain the corona pandemic will drop in Berlin. From now on, groups can freely gather again outdoors, provided they keep the minimum distance of 1.50 meters. Around 50 young people stand at the top of the monument and count the seconds. Small bass boxes stand on the floor, next to them beer crates, paper cups and empty bottles. They dance in small groups. The last seconds: “Three! Two! One! Past!”. Cheers break out. And for a moment it feels like the pandemic has been defeated with the end of the strict rules.
The weekend has shown that many Berliners are tired of the corona rules. Whether at the swimming lakes or in the parks – hardly a trace from a distance. In the Hasenheide in Berlin-Neukölln there were such large gatherings on Sunday night that the police used floodlights to end the party.
Photo: Olaf Selchow-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/auf-der-admiralbruecke-in-kreuzberg-sitzen-die-feierenden-wie-jezes- every- year-tight– tight-201464542- 71560166 / image / 1.bild.jpg “/>
As is the case every year, the celebrants sit close together on the Admiral Bridge in KreuzbergPhoto: Olaf Selchow
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► And the night before there wasn’t much of Corona distance rules to be seen in places. “None of us know anyone who has Corona,” says Enzo. He has two reasons to celebrate. It’s his 18th birthday. He has been traveling with friends for months. They meet several times a week to drink and party. In the track park, at Schlachtensee, in the Hasenheide. “But there is nothing going on because the police are constantly bothering them,” says one of the boys.
The virus is now far away up here in the dark on the mountain, and the drunk the party, the closer they are to each other, the louder they talk to each other. Nobody takes the minimum distance seriously. Music from a French rapper whispers from the Bluetooth box in his hand.
Photo: Olaf Selchow-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/enzo-18-mitte-und-seine-freunde-feiern-schon-seit-monaten-wieder-mehrere-naechte-in-der- week-201464547-71560168 / image / 1.bild.jpg “/>
Enzo (18, middle) and his friends have been celebrating several nights a week for monthsPhoto: Olaf Selchow
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► Ali (18) has been detained twice by the police, he says annoyed. “It was said that we should have been too close together,” he says. “Sometimes I feel like we’re being followed properly.” In the first few weeks of the lockdown, they would have followed the rules, not in a few weeks.
► “The clubs are all closed, so we have to meet outside,” says Carlotta (18). She is on the Kreuzberg with two friends. No one is sober anymore. “To celebrate, to go out, many of my friends were missing,” she says, “me too.”
The number of new infections in Berlin was stagnating for a while, at 30 to 100 per day. They have risen again in the past two weeks. The Senate reported 8,144 infected people at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, 49 more than a day earlier. 128 patients are in the hospital, 32 of them in intensive care units. The pandemic appears to be under control. Or?
In the restaurants, on the sidewalks, people are sitting close together again. No matter how old they are. A few kilometers further, in Treptower Park, a birthday is celebrated on this evening.
Photo: Olaf Selchow-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/der-letze-sonnenmerung-im-treptower-park-vor-dem-ende-der-kontaktbeschraenkungen-201464545-71560172/Bild/1. image.jpg “/>
The last sunset in Treptower Park before the end of the contact restrictionsPhoto: Olaf Selchow
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► Paul is a medical student and turned 30 two days ago, his friends organized a scavenger hunt for him. In two groups, they move along the path with notes in one hand and drinks in the other. “We moved the party outside because of Corona,” says Lisa. Of course, nobody really keeps his distance here either. “But most of them live together,” says Paul.
► A few meters behind him in the meadow, Max (28) and Conny (24) put a couple of tipsy dance moves on the lawn. Today you meet four other friends and work colleagues to celebrate. Two of them work as technical assistants at the Robert Koch Institute. “So of course we are careful and keep our distance,” says Jana. She fears “that the number of cases will increase again when people become too reckless”.
Photo: Olaf Selchow-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/conny-24-und-max-28-tanzen-eng-und-feiern-sonst-mit-abstand-201464546-71560174/Bild/ 1.bild.jpg “/>
Conny (24) and Max (28) dance closely and otherwise celebrate at a distancePhoto: Olaf Selchow
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The outbreaks of the last few days show just how quickly the situation can change: in Neukölln, 369 households were quarantined, in Friedrichshain 44 residents of a single apartment block were infected, in Kantand-Gymnasium the three grammar schools were closed after three students fell ill.
“Germany has so far come through the crisis reasonably well,” warned Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of the week, “but that does not mean that the danger has been averted.”
The sun is setting behind the Elsenbrücke. Hundreds sit on the harbor wall and look at the water. Often ten, sometimes thirty people sit together in the meadows. Only a few keep the minimum distance.
► Rasmus (18) carries a box of Tyskie into the park with a friend. “Tyskie is enjoyed, Sterni is being texted,” he says with a grin. And Corona is currently the most ignored in Berlin. The beer and the disease.
Also on the Admiral Bridge in Kreuzberg, Berliners and one or two tourists are crowding together again. Many sit on the curbs and on the bollards wherever there is space. Without markings, without warning signs, without mouth protection.
Photo: Olaf Selchow-“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/lavinia-26-und-lorenzo-26-stammen-aus-italien-natalia-28-und-amanda-28-aus-brasilien- am-frei-201464543-71560178 / Bild / 1.bild.jpg “/>
Lavinia (26) and Lorenzo (26) come from Italy, Natalia (28) and Amanda (28) from Brazil. They met on Friday for the first time since the virus broke outPhoto: Olaf Selchow
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► Lavinia (26), Lorenzo (26) from Rome and Natalia (28) and Amanda (28) are therefore at the edge of the bridge. Today they meet again for the first time since the pandemic broke out.
“We are very, very careful,” says Natalia. “I’m Brazilian, when I call my family and friends on the phone, I only hear bad news. Therefore, even when you celebrate, you have to be very careful! ”
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