Around 25,000 people demonstrated against right-wing extremism on Augsburg’s town hall square on Saturday. The magnitude surprises everyone, but it remains peaceful.
The city center became the scene of a demonstration on Saturday afternoon augsburg probably hasn’t experienced it for decades. Ultimately there were probably between 24,000 and almost 30,000 people who were there Town Hall Square came together to demonstrate against right-wing extremism and for diversity. When they registered a good two weeks ago, the organizers, the Alliance for Human Dignity, expected around 2,000 participants.
It became clear early on that the town hall square, which offers space for 7,000 to 9,000 people, would not be enough. People streamed into the center from all directions, and by the time the event began at 2 p.m. the area was already largely full. Since the crowds continued, organizers and police resorted to plan B early on: They expanded the demo area to Philippine-Welserstrasse and Kurze Maxstrasse, and in the meantime access to Rathausplatz was blocked off.
Around 25,000 people take part in a large demonstration against the right
The concept took hold. Apart from a medical emergency that was not directly related to the event, there were no significant incidents, according to a police spokesman. The balance is “consistently positive”. At its peak, 24,000 people were counted, but this number is based on estimates. Although significantly more people came than expected, advance planning meant we were able to react flexibly. Dissolving the event, as happened at similar rallies elsewhere, was therefore not an issue.
The large rally lasted around two and a half hours. As it progressed, it became clear how broad the social alliance behind it was: representatives from local politics, trade unions, churches, social associations and numerous civil society organizations spoke, among others.
Mayor Eva Weber (CSU) explained that “Be a human being” said “everything we have to throw at these haters.” You can’t rely on others to defend democracy, you have to do it yourself – by getting involved, for example in parties, social media, clubs or in elections. She also made an appeal to those who had tried in recent weeks to “silence” her because of her calls against the right: “I will not be quiet.”
Augsburg Town Hall Square is not enough for the number of participants
Numerous participants also brought messages with them, recorded on signs and posters. The sayings on it ranged from “Augsburg is colorful!” to “EkelhAfD” to “The B in racism stands for education”, “The City of Peace makes no room for Nazis” or “Human rights instead of right-wing people”. Participant Ursula Farquhar from Augsburg said: “I am of the opinion that something like what happened 100 years ago should no longer happen. It is actually unimaginable that it has come to this point today.” It is time to stand up and take action against the shift to the right, said the 57-year-old.
Read about this too
Here you can read the events surrounding the demonstration on Saturday in the ticker: