A few thousand anti-vaccination opponents and critics of the corona measures demonstrated in Munich on Wednesday evening and also clashed with the police. The police estimated that around 3,000 people were on the street at around 7.30 p.m. The demonstrators gathered on Ludwigstrasse, between Altstadtring and Siegestor. They overran police barriers at least twice.
The demonstration began at 6 p.m. on Geschwister-Scholl-Platz, from where the participants marched down Ludwigstrasse. There was no single train, but many small sub-groups. These are apparently made up of vaccine opponents, critics of the corona measures and so-called lateral thinkers.
A counter-demonstration took place at the Feldherrnhalle already at 5:30 p.m., with around 200 participants it remained manageable and was not disturbed by the “lateral thinkers”.
The actually registered demo of the measures skeptics with 5000 participants had been prohibited by the district administration department. The organizers wanted to go from Geschwister-Scholl-Platz in a wide arc through Schwabing and Maxvorstadt. Instead, the city assigned the protesters to Theresienwiese, where a stationary gathering with a maximum of 2,000 people was permitted. They should be required to wear masks and keep a distance of one and a half meters. The organizers described these conditions as “unacceptable” and “inhumane” and canceled the planned move.
The purpose of the meeting could not be achieved in this way, the Theresienwiese as a location was “completely excluded”. At the same time, the organizers indicated in a press release that violent protests could also occur. “Understandably, some people are frustrated and disappointed,” said a statement on Wednesday. One wants to “influence the people so that everything stays peaceful on Wednesday. But that is extremely difficult in the heated atmosphere.”
A lawyer, who works in the scene of the so-called lateral thinkers, insinuated that the city wanted to use Theresienwiese as a meeting place, “so that nobody notices anything from the demonstration.” The Theresienwiese is the place of many gatherings on different political topics. “I can only advise everyone not to take part in the supervised demonstration on the Theresienwiese,” the lawyer wrote on Telegram. In the scene there were calls to come to the Ludwigstrasse and Leopoldstrasse area despite the prohibition of the demonstration, saying that one wanted to “run independently”.
Last week, several thousand people gathered on Ludwigstrasse to protest against the Corona measures. Despite the ban, large groups moved through the city from there. The police were unable to stop them, or only too late.