The infection rate is rising again, but more and more people are of the opinion that fighting the pandemic must be good now. There were protests across Germany on Saturday. It often got tight, sometimes violent.
The individual federal states are starting public life again in more or less large steps, but many people are not going fast enough. Thousands across Germany have demonstrated against the restrictions imposed by the corona pandemic. Many of them did not use distance and mouth protection, some brought their children with them. “Those who risk the latest easing so unreasonably favor a renewed and rapid increase in the number of infections,” warned the Cologne police chief at the end of the day. There had been an unannounced gathering in the city, but it remained peaceful.
The protests in the capital were different. According to police, violent clashes between demonstrators and officials occurred on Alexanderplatz in Berlin. Major rallies were also held at Munich’s Marienplatz and in Stuttgart. Other partly unannounced meetings took place in Bremen, Dortmund and several Saxon locations.
More than a thousand people came to the undeclared demonstration on Alexanderplatz. Numerous demonstrators chanted slogans such as “We are the People” or “Freedom, Freedom”. According to a police spokeswoman, there were also bottle throws at police officers. The police said on Twitter that there had been expulsions and some demonstrators had been detained.
More than ten meetings were registered around the nearby Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. People have been demonstrating there against the pandemic measures for weeks. However, according to the Corona Ordinance, a maximum of 50 people may attend each of the meetings. At a meeting at the Reichstag building, around 30 participants were arrested, including vegan cook Attila Hildmann, according to a dpa photographer, who had attracted attention in the past few days with conspiracy theories. The police were out and about in Berlin with a thousand emergency personnel on Saturday.
Another attack on journalists
In Dortmund, a right-wing extremist attacked a press team at an illegal gathering. The man said he had beaten the journalists’ camera and slightly injured one person, the police said. The 23-year-old was placed in police custody. The city of Dortmund had banned the demonstration on Saturday at the Alter Markt against corona restrictions for infection protection reasons. Nevertheless, up to 150 people appeared, among them a group of right-wing extremists known to the police. The police did not disclose the medium for which the journalists were traveling. It is not the first attack on press representatives in the context of corona protests. Representatives of ARD and ZDF were attacked in Berlin within a few days.
In Cologne, several hundred people demonstrated unannounced against the corona protective measures – without maintaining the minimum distance and without mouth protection. “A large number of the demonstrators have repeatedly asked bystanders to remove their mouthguard and to enter the shops without a mask. We have absolutely no understanding for this,” said Police President Uwe Jacob. “It is incomprehensible to me how one can demand such a thing in these times. Apparently these people still haven’t understood that this is not only about their health, but also about the lives of other people.” The police recorded the personal details of the alleged leader of the demonstration and other companions on the platform. It is now being investigated because of the violation of the Corona Protection Ordinance, the Assembly Act and the Infection Protection Act.
It remained peaceful in the south
According to the police, around 3,000 people gathered in central Marienplatz in Munich to demonstrate against the Corona requirements. Since the number of participants was significantly higher than the registered 80 participants, it was not possible to maintain the minimum distance between the demonstrators, the Munich police via Twitter. The protesters did not respond to calls from the officials over the loudspeaker to end the meeting or at least move them apart. “For reasons of proportionality”, the head of operations decided against evacuating “the emotional but peaceful gathering”. According to the police, seven other rallies against the corona restrictions took place in downtown Munich. A meeting with participants from the right spectrum in front of the town hall had been dissolved, the personal details of 36 demonstrators had been included. There were seven arrests at the rallies in Munich.
The Stuttgart police said that the large-scale rally of the Querverse 711 initiative on the Cannstatter Wasn with several thousand demonstrators was “largely peaceful”. The police did not want to disclose the number of participants in the demonstration entitled “Vigil for the Basic Law”.
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