As of: May 1, 2024 9:15 p.m
On May 1st, left-wing and left-wing extremist groups regularly call for rallies in Hamburg. On Wednesday, more than 9,000 people followed the appeals – more than initially expected and significantly more than a year ago.
According to police spokeswoman Sandra Levgrün, 1,800 officers were deployed at the rallies, including from Bremen and the federal police. It remained peaceful until evening. “The demonstrations on this sunny day were characterized by peaceful and responsible participants, so that the Hamburg police draw a very positive conclusion,” said the police report.
Thousands in “He who has, gives”
The starting point of the demo “Whoever has, gives” was the Dammtor train station.
In the afternoon, the largest rally with around 6,000 participants gathered at Dammtor train station. The “Whoever has, gives” alliance had called for a protest march through the Rotherbaum and Harvestehude districts to the Eppendorfer Baum subway. On their way along the Alster, the demonstrators took aim at politicians from almost all parties as well as the rich and demanded a fair tax policy. Among other things, they chanted: “All together against fascism. Nazis out!”
1,800 people at “revolutionary May 1st demonstration”
Demonstrators gather for the “revolutionary May 1st demonstration” at the main train station.
The “Revolutionary May 1st Demonstration” by the Red Organization, which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as violence-oriented, started at the main train station in the late afternoon. Around 1,800 participants marched through St. Georg, Hohenfelde and Eilbek to the Landwehr S-Bahn station. The slogan of the demonstration was “War, crisis, capitalism – it must not remain as it is.”
1,400 people move from the ski jump to Altona
At midday, around 1,400 people followed the call of anarchists and left-wing autonomists for a demonstration and came to the Schanzenviertel. Under the motto “Solidarity. Self-determination. Free from domination” they moved from Sternschanze train station to Altona. The participants were greeted with pyrotechnics from the roof of the Rote Flora, but there were no major incidents. The rally broke up at Altona train station.
Hundreds at “Take Back The Night” in the ski jump
The first major demo took place in the Schanzenviertel on Tuesday evening under the motto “Take Back The Night”. According to the police, around 900 people – mostly women – moved from the left-wing alternative center Rote Flora to St. Pauli. They wanted to specifically draw attention to violence against women and femicide, i.e. the killing of women. The procession was accompanied by numerous police forces. At the start of the demo, fireworks were set off from the roof of the Rote Flora. Many of the demonstrators wore FFP2 masks. There were no major incidents on Walpurgis Night. “Only a few Bengalos and smoke pots – otherwise everything remained quiet,” said a police spokesman.
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Big DGB demo in Altona
The German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) Hamburg also called for people to take to the streets on Labor Day. The motto of the three events in Hamburg was: “More pay, more free time, more security”. The largest demonstration took place in Altona. Thousands gathered in Republic Square in the morning and then marched to a rally at the fish market. There were also DGB demonstrations in Harburg and Bergedorf.
Man seriously injured by police officer last year
Last year, more than 5,000 people took to the streets in demonstrations around May 1st in Hamburg. Overall, there were no major riots and the police drew an overall positive assessment afterwards. However, a man was seriously injured in a police operation at Schlump train station. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the investigation has now been completed. It is still unclear whether any of the officers involved will be charged.
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