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Police operation in Augsburg on the weekend: bottle throws and fights
Photo: Andreas Herz / dpa
Beer and schnapps will be taboo on the streets in downtown Augsburg in the future: alcoholic drinks may no longer be sold outside the home after 8 p.m.
If you want to drink, you have to stick to the gastronomy.
The measure announced today has nothing to do with infection protection, nor is it an economic stimulus program for starving hosts: The restrictions result from the riots that the third largest Bavarian city experienced this weekend.
"The city center is not a legally vacant area," emphasized the Mayor of Augsburg, Eva Weber, at a press conference.
"I am appalled by the attacks and attacks on the police, security and rescue services."
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a group of initially around 1,400 teenagers and young men, and then later a hard core of 300 to 400 people, had clashes with the police.
More than 200 bottles flew, a dozen officers were injured, and after clearing the central Maximilianstrasse, the city did not calm down until four in the morning.
The police have now identified seven suspects, accused of violating the peace and assaulting law enforcement officers.
The police have announced that they will use photos to search for those involved.
Aid, i.e. protection and cover for rioters, is also a criminal offense.
"The pandemic has affected so many people existentially"
Mayor Weber warned against trivialization.
It was neither a slipped victory celebration by soccer fans nor an expression of protest against corona restrictions.
Rather, it was a minority who had come to cause unrest.
"We have all had to accept restrictions and restrictions in the past few months," said the mayor.
"The pandemic has affected so many people existentially." That could not be an excuse for the scenes from the weekend.
In the future, Augsburg will cordon off the central Maximilianstrasse before non-working days, and parked cars will no longer be tolerated.
"A mob of several hundred people raged in the city center," said Police President Michael Schwald, describing the weekend.
According to the head of the responsible police inspection, police officers were attacked when they intervened at the central Hercules fountain after a fight.
Bottles on an ambulance
Bottles were later thrown at an ambulance as it made its way to an unconscious person in front of a restaurant.
A larger group chanted "all cops are bastards", the police finally advanced in protective gear and cleared the city center with batons and pepper spray.
"We weren't unprepared that evening," emphasized Augsburg's regulatory officer, Frank Pintsch.
After several tense evenings, the city tried to defuse the situation.
Parts of the city center were closed, passers-by were not allowed to bring glass bottles between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., and alcohol to take away was not allowed to be sold after 10 p.m.
But the measures were apparently not enough.
Other cities are also struggling to contain escalating celebrations.
In Munich, for example, the university district is now regularly the scene of nightly drinking parties on weekends.
Residents complain about noise, rubbish and peeing corners of houses.
The police intervened at the weekend because of disturbances and violations of the infection protection ordinance.
According to surveys by the Munich police, significantly more people are now celebrating outdoors in the city center than before the corona pandemic.
There would also be people from all over the city and the surrounding districts.
"You can really tell that all the bars, discos or even cultural events are no longer open," said a Munich police spokesman.
"They have a certain social function, in the past thousands of people took them in every night."
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