More than 5,500 police officers will accompany demonstrations on May 1st in Berlin

The Berlin police are once again preparing for violence on May 1st this year. Thousands of emergency services will accompany the “revolutionary” protest march through Neukölln. There are also political events and family celebrations.

In addition to the traditional Labor Day rallies, numerous demonstrations by left-wing and left-wing extremist groups are expected in Berlin on May 1st. A “Revolutionary May 1st Demonstration” has been announced for Wednesday evening, which the organizers want to go through Neukölln this time.

According to the organizers, the event starts at 4:30 p.m. From 6 p.m. the protest procession will set off along the following route: Südstern – Körtestraße / Lilienthalstraße – Hasenheide – Hermannplatz – Karl-Marx-Straße – Erkstraße – Sonnenallee – Hermannplatz (intermediate rally) – Hasenheide – Südstern. According to the police, the demo is registered for 5,000 participants.

According to the police, the route was specifically chosen with a view to the Gaza war in order to attract as many pro-Palestinian demonstrators as possible.

The Berlin police are expecting aggressive demonstrators. According to her own information, she will with more than 5,500 police officers from Berlin, other federal states and the federal police are deployed throughout the city. Technical units with clearing vehicles, water cannons, a police helicopter and light poles to illuminate the streets, especially in Kreuzberg and Neukölln, are also on hand.

“MyGruni” will be moving through Grunewald from 1 p.m

Before that, the “MyGruni” demo is scheduled to go through the Grunewald district again. This year the organizers have a satirical campaign announced: Similar to the fencing plans for Görlitzer Park, they announced that they wanted to fence in the Grunewald residential area. A raid with “special expropriation forces (SEK)” is planned for May 1st in Grunewald and a strike against the “capital extremist scene,” said the “MyGruni” initiative.

The demonstration with the motto “Raid in Grunewald – solve capital crimes” is scheduled to run from Johannaplatz via Bismarckallee, Wildpfad, Griegstrasse, Königsallee and Fontanestrasse to Grunewald train station from 1 p.m. The start of two bicycle demos as feeders on Behaimstrasse and in front of the Max-Schmeling-Halle is planned for 11:30 a.m.

More than 5,000 police officers were deployed in Berlin on May 1st

Numerous events have been registered in Berlin for May 1st. The police are prepared. Most of the forces will be in action at the Revolutionary May 1st demonstration in the evening. According to the GdP, how this will work out is a “lucky bag”.more

DGBEvents also in Brandenburg

On Wednesday morning, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) is holding its traditional Berlin rally under the motto “More wages, more free time, more security” in front of the Red Town Hall. The demonstrators on foot met at 10:30 a.m. at the corner of Karl-Marx-Allee and Pariser Kommune (U Weberwiese). There is also a bicycle demo that started at 10:30 a.m. at the DGB headquarters on Keithstrasse, near Wittenbergplatz. The demos then end in front of the Red Town Hall, where the traditional May rally with live music and stage program will take place from 12 p.m. There will be a children’s and family festival from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

At the start of the procession, police estimated the number of participants at 7,500. This year, the trade union federation is primarily reminding people of the consequences of the high inflation rates of the past two years. This is what led to the collective bargaining battles of last year and will continue. An important goal mentioned was to enforce collective agreements in more companies.

For the state of Brandenburg, the trade union federation has also announced rallies, demos and street festivals in Cottbus, Forst, Guben, Finsterwalde, Königs Wusterhausen, Potsdam, Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg an der Havel, Frankfurt (Oder), Schwedt, Strausberg and Eberswalde. You can find all events on the DGB website [berlin-brandenburg.dgb.de].

The DGB organizes its nationwide central May event in a different federal state every year. This year it will take place in Hanover (Lower Saxony).

Myfest in Berlin is canceled again – silent end after fifteen years?

For over a decade, “Myfest” was part of the standard program on May 1st in Berlin. At the beginning of the millennium it started as an alternative to riots. But now support in the district appears to be lost. By Simon Wenzelmore

Numerous festivals throughout the city

The “Myfest” in Kreuzberg, which has been held for around 15 years in a row will not take place again this year. The district administration said that there had been no concrete planning on the part of the organizers; the organizer accused the district office of having no interest in the festival. The Senate, in turn, criticized the cancellation of the festival again: Now there are hardly any alternative, peaceful festival offerings to “Myfest”. But in 2025 they want to organize a “Myfest” again, says organizer Halis Sönmez.

But there is a small edition in Kreuzberg: as “May Day at Mariannenplatz” with music in the open air, speeches and activities for children, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m., around Mariannenplatz, Heinrichplatz and Oranienplatz. The Left is one of the organizers.

There are other festivals all over the city: at the children’s farm of the Ufa factory in Tempelhof (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.) there are offers on May 1st, especially for families. The “HelleMitteTanzt” festival on Alice-Salomon-Platz in Hellersdorf offers a free stage and family program from May 1st to 5th, including bumper cars, carousels, cotton candy, etc. Poems and stories will be presented in Hasenheide from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m read aloud for Labor Day.

At the Kurt-Schumacher-Damm on the central fairground there is a lot of hype again (2 p.m. to 10 p.m.). And in the Obersee-Orankesee-Park in Alt-Hohenschönhausen there will be another festival called “Cultures in the Park” with various readings, vintage cars and artistry (1:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.). And if all that is too much for you: the Wendenschloss lido opens its season at 12 p.m. It should be up to 26 degrees warm.

Peaceful Demonstrations on Walpurgis Night

Already on the eve of May 1st there was in Berlin two larger demonstrations. Under the title “Take Back the Night,” up to 2,800 people followed the call from left-wing, queer-feminist women. The meeting started late at Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain and was actually supposed to go to the Jannowitz Bridge. It ended on Warschauer Straße about an hour and a half earlier than planned. Pyrotechnics and firecrackers were occasionally set off along the way, but ultimately the situation remained peaceful, according to the police. According to initial reports, there were no arrests.

Previously, up to 800 people took part in the “For Peace and Social Justice!” demonstration. from Leopoldplatz in Wedding towards Gesundbrunnen. According to the police, there were no incidents here either.

Around 3,000 police officers accompanied the events on Walpurgis Night.

Broadcast: rbb24 Inforadio, May 1st, 2024, 7 a.m