Demonstrations
A country stands up: “These people give us all courage”
Like here in Berlin, around a million people nationwide went to demonstrations against right-wing extremism at the weekend.
© Christian Mang / AFP
Nothing like this has happened for decades. More than a million people took to the streets in demonstrations over the weekend to stand up against right-wing extremism and for democracy. Gratitude for the effort also came from Holocaust survivors.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Germany were against the right and for them at the weekend Democracy took to the streets. In Munich The organizer canceled an anti-right demonstration with at least 80,000 people due to overcrowding. The safety of the participants can no longer be guaranteed, a police spokesman said on Sunday. The organizer even spoke of 250,000 demonstrators.
In Berlin Tens of thousands streamed into the government district; the police said there were at least 60,000 people. Since the influx is large and the situation is dynamic, there could also be 100,000 people, a police spokesman said on Sunday. The organizers spoke of 350,000 participants – the police thought that was too high. Tens of thousands of people also took to the streets in many other places, such as Cologne and Bremen. The protests that had been going on for days reached a temporary climax.
In total, around a million participants
At the demonstration in Colognen there was also a big crowd. The organizers spoke of 70,000 participants. NRW Deputy Prime Minister Mona Neubaur (Greens) told WDR that the people in the state showed “that they are vigorously defending our democracy.”
In BremenAccording to organizers and police, 40,000 to 50,000 people took part. In Leipzig, the organizers estimated the number of participants at more than 40,000.
In Dresden According to the police, the original elevator route was also extended due to the “enormous number of participants”. A police spokesman said there were several thousand people out and the organizers said there were 50,000. In Brandenburg cottbus According to organizers, more than 5,000 people took part in the demonstration.
Demonstrations nationwide
Hundreds of thousands show the flag against right-wing extremism and for democracy – the images from the protest weekend
On Saturday, police and organizers had already counted a total of at least 300,000 people. focal points were Hanover, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Counted in eastern Germany Hall to the places where larger numbers of demonstrators gathered. The police spoke of around 16,000 participants there.
New state parliaments will be elected in September in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. According to surveys, the AfD could become the strongest force in all three countries, some by a significant margin.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanks the demonstrations
The protests were triggered by the revelations by the research center “Correctiv” about a meeting of right-wing extremists on November 25th, in which AfD politicians as well as individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union took part in Potsdam. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” at the meeting. When right-wing extremists use the term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked the demonstrators for their commitment to democracy. “These people encourage us all. They defend our republic and our constitution against its enemies. They defend our humanity,” he said in a video message in Berlin on Sunday. Very different people took to the streets. “But they all have one thing in common: They are now standing up against misanthropy and right-wing extremism. They want to continue to live together freely and peacefully in the future.” What is now needed is an alliance of all democrats. “The future of our democracy does not depend on the loudness of its opponents – but on the strength of those who defend democracy. Let us show that we are stronger together.”
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck viewed the demonstrations as an encouraging sign for democracy. “Democracy lives from the people who stand up for it,” said the Green politician to the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) praised the increasing anti-right-wing protests in Germany, especially in smaller and medium-sized cities. “That is the strength in our country,” she said on Sunday in Potsdam. When it came to the question of whether one was a human being or a misanthrope, people took to the streets – even without big calls and for the first time.
The Federal Government’s Integration Commissioner, Reem Alabali-Radovan, described the demonstrations as “good and important”. “We need an alliance across society,” said the SPD politician “Zeit Online”. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) wrote on Saturday evening on Platform X, formerly Twitter: “So many people who show faces and attitudes – our democracy lives from strong democrats like you!”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) had previously thanked the people who demonstrated against the right across the country. This shows that there is “a broad alliance” at the heart of society, he said. Wüst once again called for such a “centre alliance” in politics, which must be formed across parties and across all levels of government. “We need the Democrats to unite together.” He described the AfD as an “extremely dangerous Nazi party.” On X, formerly Twitter, the CDU politician wrote that the AfD does not stand on the basis of the Basic Law. “The AfD is not a conservative party and certainly not a value-oriented party.”
The International Auschwitz Committee thanked the people for their protest. “Survivors of the Holocaust are more than grateful to all those who are taking to the streets these days against the hatred and lies of the right-wing extremists. They see these demonstrations as a powerful sign from the citizens and a revival of the democracy that they have long hoped for and waited,” said Executive Vice President Christoph Heubner.