capital city
Berlin before May 1: Some arrests and damage to property
Participants in the demonstration of left-wing groups march through the city center near Alexanderplatz under the slogan ‘For The Destruction of Patriarchy’. Photo: Paul Zinken/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Rallies and thousands of police officers on the streets – Berlin has prepared for the usual Labor Day campaigns. In the case of riots, they want to intervene massively.
Already on the day before May Day, thousands of people demonstrated and celebrated in Berlin. For the most part, the protests have been quiet, according to police.
At a demonstration by feminists in Prenzlauer Berg, however, the atmosphere was heated on Saturday evening. Paint bags flew, discs were thrown in, pyrotechnics ignited. The police stopped the protest march several times. According to a police spokeswoman, there were attacks on emergency services. There have been isolated arrests, the spokeswoman said.
According to the spokeswoman, around 1,600 police officers were on duty in the city on Saturday. According to Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD), there were up to 6,000 throughout the weekend – including from the federal police and other federal states. It is expected that on May 1st, as in previous decades, there may be outbreaks of violence by left-wing autonomists.
On Sunday there will be a whole series of demonstrations in Berlin: from the main rally of the German trade union federation on Labor Day at noon to motorbike or bicycle parades to protests against corona measures. The police paid special attention to the demonstration by left-wing and radical left-wing groups entitled “Revolutionary May Day” on Sunday evening in Neukölln. 5,000 to 20,000 participants and possible outbreaks of violence are expected. A total of up to 50,000 participants are expected at demonstrations and folk festivals over the weekend.
“Of course we know that violence can and will most likely occur,” said Interior Senator Spranger of the RBB. The police are pursuing the strategy of the outstretched hand, but “of course intervene massively if there are riots.”