Despite the drizzle, significantly more than the announced 100,000 people gathered in Berlin for a demonstration against the AfD and right-wing extremism. More than 150,000 people are currently on site, the police wrote on Platform X on Saturday afternoon. The organizers spoke of around 300,000 participants.
Symbolically, participants formed a human chain under the motto “We are the firewall.” The police had steadily increased the number of participants over the course of the afternoon. Given the large number of people on site, emergency services released all additional areas planned in the area so that the crowd could spread out. There were announcements that the Reichstagswiese was full and that people should no longer walk there. According to the police, access to the event was no longer possible via several entrances such as the Moltke Bridge; for example, the Brandenburger Tor S-Bahn and U-Bahn station was also temporarily closed. According to an authority spokesman, 700 police officers were on duty.
Behind the campaign against hate and for tolerance is an alliance called “Hand in Hand” with more than 1,300 organizations. “We want to set an example for solidarity and that we are against discrimination. And that we think it is nice if a society with diversity instead of simplicity continues to exist in Germany,” said 36-year-old Serkan Bingöl, a Berliner with a German passport and a high school teacher, who came with a group of refugees.
Demos also in Freiburg, Potsdam and other cities
According to police reports, around 30,000 people also protested against right-wing extremism in Freiburg on Saturday. More than 300 organizations called for the largest event in Baden-Württemberg, including the Bundesliga soccer team SC Freiburg, trade unions and churches. At a rally at midday, the police initially counted around 20,000 people. More were added.
After the rally on the square of the Old Synagogue, the demonstration set off through downtown Freiburg. “At the peak there were around 30,000 people on site,” said a police spokesman. Greta Waltenberg from the demonstration’s organizing team spoke of more than 35,000 participants. “We showed today: Freiburg is an open and diverse city.” The citizens are ready to “loudly defend them against inhumane policies”.
Similar protests were also registered elsewhere in the southwest – for example in Lahr, Lörrach, Wiesloch and Aalen. According to the police, the demonstration in Freiburg was peaceful and trouble-free overall. At the end of the event, however, an Israeli flag was snatched from a demonstrator and spat on. The 14-year-old suspect was temporarily arrested. According to current information, he is a Syrian national. The state security agency began investigations.
The Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, spoke of a demonstration with 10,000 people in Mainz. According to the organizers, there were 30,000 participants in Dresden; the police did not want to give a number of participants. In Hanover, the police spoke of around 7,000 people.
Several hundred people also demonstrated in Brandenburg on Saturday. In Potsdam alone, around 2,700 people took part in a rally, a police spokesman said. Things remained mostly quiet. Protests against right-wing extremism also took place in Gransee, Königs Wusterhausen and Falkensee. In Potsdam, people formed a chain around the Brandenburg state parliament. Under the motto “Potsdam defends itself!” The civil society alliance “Potsdam! Show Colors” chaired by Mayor Mike Schubert called for the rally. Further actions are planned for Sunday in Forst, Prenzlau, Luckenwalde and Neuruppin, among others.
“Krefeld defends the red line of democracy”
In North Rhine-Westphalia, thousands again took to the streets against the AfD. According to police reports, around 10,000 people came together in Krefeld. A broad alliance of associations, initiatives, parties, unions and religious communities called for participation. The motto was “Krefeld defends the red line of democracy”.
According to police reports, more than 2,500 people took to the streets in Schwelm. The motto of the demonstration was “For the rule of law and democracy”. According to the police, more than 500 people gathered in Herdecke. According to police, more than 500 people took part in a demonstration in Würselen. The Internet portal “Together Against the Right” recorded more than 20 events in North Rhine-Westphalia on Saturday and another seven on Sunday.
For a good three weeks, tens of thousands of people have been protesting against right-wing extremism all over Germany; a total of more than 1.6 million people took to the streets at around 400 rallies. The protests were triggered by a report by the media company Correctiv about a meeting of radical right-wingers on November 25th in Potsdam, which was also attended by AfD politicians and individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Values Union. It is said to have been about “remigration”. When right-wing extremists use this term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.