New Year’s Eve
In Sydney and Seoul it is already 2024
Sydney welcomes the New Year with a gigantic fireworks display. photo
© Dan Himbrechts/AAP/dpa
While it’s already 2024 in the South Seas, Australia and South Korea, Germany is still waiting – this time in more uncomfortable weather than last time. The fear of riots is dampening anticipation in some places.
In some countries, 2024 has already begun. In In Germany, people are still waiting for the New Year. People look forward to the night ahead with both anticipation and concern. For many people in flood areas, the New Year’s Eve party on Sunday evening literally falls through.
Large cities like Berlin are preparing for possible riots with thousands of emergency services. In Cologne, the police want to strictly secure the world-famous church at night after the terrorist alarm for the cathedral.
Weather cooler than last time
According to the German Weather Service (DWD), there will initially be some rain on New Year’s Eve, but it will quickly move to the east. There are showers in some areas, especially in the west and northwest. After mild double-digit values last time, only around 7 degrees were expected this time.
In Lower Saxony, Interior Minister Daniela Behrens called for New Year’s Eve fireworks to be used with caution due to the tense flood situation. The fire brigades and rescue services are busy enough, said the SPD politician in Verden.
Launch in the South Pacific
The people on the South Sea atoll of Kiritimati were the first in the world to start the year 2024. The approximately 7,300 residents welcomed the New Year at 11 a.m. German time. An hour after Kiritimati, New Zealand and the island states of Samoa and Tonga celebrated the turn of the year.
The New Year began at 2pm CET in parts of Australia, including Melbourne. In Sydney, a mega light show lit up the sky against the world-famous backdrop of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House. According to organizers, more than 13,500 fireworks were set off in the harbor district alone. There were also light projections generated by artificial intelligence.
China celebrates the New Year quietly
China also welcomed the New Year – although much more quietly than other parts of the world. Although there are smaller celebrations in the People’s Republic, New Year’s Eve is not the highest priority for the Chinese. After all, according to the traditional lunar calendar, the New Year does not begin until February 10th. Only then does the family celebrate extensively and a huge wave of travel begins that moves hundreds of millions of people across the country.
In the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, New Year’s Eve is more important. In Hong Kong, tens of thousands gathered around Victoria Harbor to marvel at the large fireworks display. Numerous large parties also took place in the casino city of Macau.
Traditional bell ringing in Seoul
In the South Korean capital Seoul, the New Year was rung in with the traditional tolling of bells. The three-meter-high bell in the center of the metropolis was struck exactly 33 times on Monday night, like every year.
According to reports from South Korean broadcasters, tens of thousands of people gathered around the Bosin Pavilion with the large bronze bell to watch the ritual act in temperatures around freezing point. Visitors who did not have a direct view of the pavilion watched the ceremony on large screens. The number 33 symbolizes luck in Korea.
Fear of riots in Berlin
After riots at the turn of the year last year, the police in Berlin were faced with one of their largest New Year’s Eve operations. The Gaza war following the terrorist attack on Israel by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th has made the conditions worse. According to the police chief, a total of around 4,500 police officers from the capital and other federal states should be on duty in the capital that night.
There were some New Year’s Eve incidents up until Sunday afternoon: The police reported that a 40-year-old lost a hand when detonating a rocket in the Kaulsdorf district. In Berlin-Lichtenberg, a man who is said to have fired pyrotechnics from a weapon from a balcony triggered a SEK operation. According to police, the 33-year-old was arrested on Saturday evening.
The first riots and attacks on emergency services also concerned law enforcement officers. A group of people in Neukölln threw pyrotechnics at passers-by, the police said on X (formerly Twitter).
Private fireworks are prohibited at the Brandenburg Gate, where the traditional New Year’s Eve party takes place. There will be fireworks there for the first time since the corona pandemic. ZDF is broadcasting the celebration live again as a show called “Welcome 2024”.
Before Christmas, security authorities had received information about a possible attack plan by an Islamist group in Cologne, which was related to New Year’s Eve. The security precautions at Cologne Cathedral have already been increased for Christmas. Emergency services are supposed to patrol the city area with submachine guns on New Year’s Eve.
Whole globe only on January 1st. at 1 p.m. in the New Year
In total, it takes 26 hours for the entire globe to enter the New Year. American Samoa, located just 220 kilometers east of Samoa on the other side of the International Date Line, will be the last country to ring in 2024 – twelve hours after Germany. At 1:00 p.m. CET on January 1st, only two uninhabited islets will follow.