The police and fire brigade speak of a “comparatively quiet” New Year’s Eve in Berlin and Brandenburg

The turn of the year in Berlin and Brandenburg was mostly calm from the authorities’ point of view. At the Brandenburg Gate, the year 2022 was greeted with a smaller stage fireworks display – a big party was canceled due to the corona pandemic. Nevertheless, “several thousand people” gathered nearby at midnight, as police spokesman Thilo Cablitz said. The police tweeted early in the morning that they were looking back on a “comparatively quiet, but still demanding New Year’s mission”.

However, twelve people were injured in the explosion of illegal fireworks at a private New Year’s Eve party in the east of the capital. They had to be taken to clinics for treatment, as the fire department announced on New Year’s morning. Fortunately, there were no very serious injuries, said Cablitz.

After initial investigations, the police assume that illegal pyrotechnics were ignited at the celebration in the Friedrichshagen district. There is no other way of explaining the number and severity of the injuries. According to the fire brigade, the youngest injured is an eleven-year-old boy, the other injured are adolescents and adults.

According to Cablitz, around 90 people were temporarily detained during the night for violations of the Arms and Explosives Act. A police officer was injured during an operation. Details were not known at first. The police announced a deployment balance on Saturday.

In the course of the evening several thousand people had gathered on Unter den Linden near the Brandenburg Gate. The Brandenburger Tor S-Bahn and U-Bahn station has been closed in the meantime. Presumably, many wanted to celebrate the turn of the year at the Brandenburg Gate. Emergency services would then have asked people to leave the area, said Cablitz. According to him, the crowd gradually broke up. The police pointed out on Twitter before midnight that there would be no fireworks this time.

In the past, a big party with hundreds of thousands of people had often taken place at the Brandenburg Gate. This time, however, the ZDF broadcast a pure TV show from there – without an audience. Several musicians performed on the stage. Marianne Rosenberg, Dieter Hallervorden and Bonnie Tyler were there – she sang “Total Eclipse Of The Heart”, among others.

Berlin’s new Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) also made a brief appearance. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) was connected by video and said with a view to the pandemic that he saw “light at the end of the tunnel” for 2022.

Other areas of the city also remained calm. According to a dpa reporter, it was significantly quieter in the Neukölln district – for example at Hermannplatz and Sonnenallee – than in the years before the pandemic. Nevertheless, many firecrackers could be heard.

The police reported on Twitter that evening that they were checking several groups of people in City-West and City-East. Including a few hundred young people “who wanted to go to a non-existent party together”. “We are very philosophical: What is not there cannot be visited. # Welcome2022”, tweeted the police.

The police were on the move with around 1,600 additional personnel, which should make a total of around 2,500. The fire brigade wanted to deploy around 1,400 people.

Firecrackers and rockets were not allowed to be sold nationwide. This was to prevent the hospitals from being burdened further. At the start of the new year, however, the first people who had been injured by fireworks were admitted to the Berlin accident hospital. According to a spokeswoman, new patients could still report on New Year’s morning – some only noticed the next day how badly they had actually injured.

The situation center of the police in Brandenburg also reported several operations for New Year’s Eve. There were some clashes and physical injuries, said a spokesman on Saturday night. There were also some violations due to illegal firecrackers. He did not expect an exact balance of the operations until Saturday morning.

The police in Brandenburg had prepared for a busy night. Last time around 750 police officers were on duty nationwide on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s.

Broadcast: evening show, 01.01.2022, 7:30 p.m.