Icon: enlarge
Demonstrators in the center of Leipzig: "We can no longer put up with that shit!"
Photo: Sebastian Kahnert / dpa
It's not even 12 noon when Superman makes his first appearance.
The supposed hero, a stocky man in a brightly colored full-body costume, stands in front of an Antifa group near the old fair in Leipzig and starts a discussion.
Why are you blocking the street, does he want to know what your problem is with the demo?
"Do you have anything against peace?"
An older gentleman joins them, he's not as diplomatic as Superman.
"That's a communist pack," he says of the street blockers, "we already had them in '89 ..." - he doesn't finish the sentence because Superman slows him down.
The costumed man now claims that he is also in the Antifa, and that it would be good if more leftists were in the "lateral thinking" alliance and ensured "balance" there.
A lot gets out of whack on this day in Leipzig.
More than 20,000 people followed the call of the "lateral thinking" alliance to demonstrate against the corona policy in the center of the Saxon city.
Even a large police force does not prevent the situation from quickly becoming confusing: In the evening, objects and pyrotechnics fly, police chains are broken, officials and journalists are attacked.
The authorities knew how many people wanted to travel and that right-wing extremists had also massively mobilized - how could the situation nevertheless escalate?
A star of David, aluminum hats, a "forced vaccination" sign
The demo day starts early.
Hundreds of black-clad men arrive at the main train station in the morning, some of them carry flags of the German Empire, and the march looks threatening.
According to SPIEGEL information, the police had anticipated in advance that the situation could get out of hand with tens of thousands of people in a confined space.
Not only violent right-wing extremists come to Leipzig: In addition to "lateral thinking" and the Islamophobic "civil movement Pax Europa", alliances such as "Love Wins" and the "Basic Democratic Party of Germany" have announced rallies, as well as several left counter-protests.
There are a total of 27 demos, which would have been a confusing situation even before the pandemic.
In view of the thousands of demonstrators, the city had previously moved the mass rally from the city center to the exhibition grounds nine kilometers away - there 16,000 people could have demonstrated with sufficient distance from one another.
However, the Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen overturned this provision a few hours before the start of the demo.
How bizarre the mix of participants is on this day can be seen everywhere in the city center at noon: A woman wears a sign around her neck that says "I am Covidjud" next to a stylized Star of David.
Elsewhere people shout "We are the people", some wear self-made aluminum hats, motifs and slogans from the right-wing extremist scene - or banners with the words "forced vaccination".
But there are also contributions that don't just get lost in conspiracy talk.
When Heike Oehlert takes the stage on Augustusplatz, the local politician asks questions worth discussing: Why did schools stay open, but not restaurants?
Why is there a mask requirement in many school classes, but not in all?
However, Oehlert also asks quite questionable questions: "Why is every uncontrolled movement of our right arm suspected of being an anti-constitutional symbol?"
"A virus has affected not only health, but also the rule of law"
Christoph Wonneberger
There is no serious discussion on this day anyway, instead the self-proclaimed "lateral thinkers" confirm each other in their worldview: Uwe Steimle, probably the most controversial and well-known cabaret artist in East Germany, performs a Honecker parody on stage.
A little later, Thomas Berthold, one of the football world champions from 1990, appears. He has not watched football since May, he says, everything is being exploited politically.
Then he talks about "betraying the fan" and finally shouts into the microphone: "We no longer tolerate this shit!"
Berthold's appearance shows what unites all "lateral thinking" demonstrators on this day: They are angry at "those up there", at "the system", "the elites".
"No 3rd dictatorship in Germany" is written on one poster, another warns of a second GDR, and another sign reads: "End Corona fascism immediately".
That neither large-scale demonstrations nor the display of such signs would be possible in dictatorships does not deter Christoph Wonneberger.
The 76-year-old once coordinated the "peace prayers" in Leipzig, now this hero of the revolution of 1989 speaks on the "lateral thinking" stage.
Many advised him not to speak at a Nazi demonstration, he says, and he actually had concerns.
But in 1989 you couldn't choose who to go out on the street with.
Wonneberger says a few harmless sentences, then comes to speak of the pandemic: "A virus has not only attacked health, but also the rule of law," he says.
People should therefore take to the streets so that the rule of law can become healthy again.
Hardly anyone will get well on this demo day.
Irena Rudolph-Kokot from the "Bündnis Leipzig sucht Platz", which organized a counter demo, describes the judicial approval of the "lateral thinking" rally as "official approval of a superspreader event with announcement".
A few hours later, the "Alliance Leipzig takes a seat" reported on Twitter: All counter-demonstrators should withdraw, it says: "We consider the situation too dangerous."
In fact, in the course of the evening, the police apparently lost control of what was happening: Although the rally was officially dissolved by the city and demonstration marches are banned, thousands march through the city center in the dark - and thus achieve a central goal: the organizers had it designed for a large protest march through the city center, comparable to that of November 6, 1989, when hundreds of thousands demonstrated against the SED regime.
However, the events on this Saturday have nothing to do with a peaceful revolution: Police chains are broken, there are beatings and hunting-like scenes, and there are obviously many right-wing extremists among the attackers.
The journalists' union DJU reported in the evening that at least 32 journalists were "affected by physical attacks and disabilities".
The preliminary results of this chaotic day: numerous attacks on civil servants and civilians, a police force that was now clearly overwhelmed, and there were several arrests.
In Leipzig they will probably talk about this day for a long time.
Icon: The mirror