After protests throughout the Republic over the past weekends, protests by critics of the Corona rules were announced for this Saturday in Germany as well. When the weather is bad, there are fewer protesters than expected in most cities.
Berlin (dpa) - In many German cities, critics of the restrictions imposed in the corona pandemic took to the streets again on Saturday. The protests were mostly peaceful.
Almost everywhere, however, significantly fewer people demonstrated than registered. Take Stuttgart, for example: Several dozen people took part in a protest, and more demonstrators came later. Originally 500 participants had registered. The previous weekend the nationwide largest protest had gathered in Stuttgart. Despite an original ban in the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, the AfD is allowed to demonstrate against the corona restrictions on Sunday.
Hundreds of people demonstrated against the corona restrictions in North Rhine-Westphalia. Around 360 of the originally 1,000 registered participants came together for a demonstration in Essen, and around 250 demonstrators gathered in Cologne for a human chain. Initially, the rallies were largely trouble-free, it said from the emergency services.
In Berlin, the police were deployed with around 1100 forces to accompany demonstrations - they had prepared themselves for numerous protests against the corona restrictions and counter-demonstrations. At a demonstration of opponents of the Corona measures at the Großer Stern in the afternoon, there were initially only a few participants. Another demonstration under the motto "Homeland and World Peace" at noon had been ended by the organizer, according to the police, after the participants had not complied with the requirements. Only 50 participants were allowed, but there were probably almost 100, it said.
In Hesse, too, people took to the streets in several cities to protest the restrictions. At a demonstration in Frankfurt under the motto "Hands off the Basic Law", the police counted several hundred participants. There was also a protest against this event, which was somewhat smaller. In Erfurt, around 40 people demonstrated peacefully against restrictions on fundamental rights in the wake of the corona pandemic. A counter rally attracted around 50 participants.
According to the police, around 130 critics met in Hanover on Saturday by afternoon. About 30 people spontaneously gathered for a counter demonstration. According to a police spokeswoman, around 170 people took to the streets in Bremen in the afternoon under the motto "Our basic rights documented in the Basic Law". Almost 150 people demonstrated against it. According to the spokeswoman, everything went peacefully.
The demonstrations against corona policy announced in Bavaria literally fell into the water. A thunderstorm swept across the grounds of Munich's Theresienwiese, so the organizers decided to cancel their protest. Up to 1000 people were expected to attend the demo in the state capital. Also in Nuremberg, instead of the announced 500 people in rainy weather, only a few "scattered" were seen, said a police spokesman.