Queer feminist demo “Take back the Night”
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Hundreds of people form up for the Walpurgis Night demo in Kreuzberg
The Berlin police are on duty around May 1st with thousands of forces and expect the greatest challenges for the “revolutionary demonstration” on Monday. Hundreds of people took to the streets for Walpurgis Night on Sunday.
- 650 people at anti-capitalist demonstration in Wedding
- Queer feminist demo in Kreuzberg in the evening
- The highlight on Monday is the “Revolutionary May Day Demonstration”
- Wegner and Faeser urge peaceful protests
Several hundred people gathered for Walpurgis Night on Mariannenplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg queer-feminist demonstration “Take back the Night” gathered. The protest march is to lead to the Schlesisches Tor in the evening. It was initially supposed to start at 7 p.m., and according to rbb reporters, the train had not yet started at 8 p.m. At the time, an estimated 2,000 people had gathered.
In the run-up, the Berlin police had expected a few hundred to more than a thousand participants in the protest march. According to the traffic information center, there will be traffic restrictions along the route.
First demo in the afternoon in Wedding
Earlier in the afternoon, about 650 people attended an anti-capitalist Demonstration gathered in Wedding. They moved from the Seestrasse underground station to Badstrasse. The motto of the protest was “Peace instead of capitalism – stop the arms race and end poverty”.
Banners read: “Revolution – fight for socialism”, “Stop NATO” and “Stop the war against Russia. No weapons for Ukraine. For the defeat of NATO.”
Last year, around 1,000 people took part in the demonstration. The police had previously expected a similar number of participants, as a spokeswoman said.
According to the police, the demonstration was quiet. She tweeted in the afternoon with the message: “The sky is blue, the sun is shining and it’s #Walpurgis Night.”
Meanwhile, gatherings of demonstrators in the Berlin parks could pose a challenge to the police on Walpurgis Night, police spokeswoman Anja Dierschke told rbb. “We have a large number of green spaces in Berlin. Nobody knows where peaceful celebrations are taking place and where things could escalate.”
Police are preparing for a lift through Kreuzberg
The police is according to its own statements in the night from Sunday to Monday 3,400 and on May 1st with 6,300 officials in use, around 2,500 of them come from other federal states.
The police are paying particular attention to securing the 19 meetings registered for May 1st, police spokeswoman Dierschke explained on Sunday. Care is also taken to protect rescue workers from the fire brigade and paramedics from possible attacks. Should there be unrest at a demonstration, the police will proceed as in previous years and first ask the organizers to calm down the participants. “If that doesn’t work, we will approach people and tell them that something is going in the wrong direction and then take consistent action,” said Dierschke.
Police station at Kottbusser Tor is specially guarded
The culmination of the protests will be on May 1st, the so-called Revolutionary May Day demonstrationthat around 6 p.m on Hermannstraße in Neukölln and moves to Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg. The new Police station at Kottbusser Tor is specially guarded.
In previous years, following this demo, there was repeated violence and attacks on the police, but recently things have calmed down. This year there was already rioting on Saturday night. People dressed in black damaged cars in mid-18 and smashed windows. On the facade of the house was the slogan “Out to May Day.”
Wegner and Faeser call for peaceful protest
The new Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner (CDU), hopes for a peaceful May Day. He will work with the interior senator Iris Spranger (SPD) visit the police and fire brigade operations centers, Wegner told the rbb24 evening show.
Also Minister of the Interior Nancy Faser (SPD) called for peaceful forms of protest. “May 1 stands for social justice and social cohesion,” she told the German Press Agency on Sunday. “I appeal to all groups to demonstrate peacefully.”
Broadcast: rbb24 evening show, April 30, 2023, 7:30 p.m