The video recordings were made last Sunday at around 6:40 a.m. at the Göttingen Kornmarkt - and they have been causing a stir for days.
You can see a police operation, four officers try to tame a man who is lying on the ground, he defends himself violently against the officers and insults them savagely.
One of the policemen kneels on the man's neck and hits him several times in the face.
There is blood on the floor.
The video ends after about a minute.
The recordings come "from an unknown witness," as the Göttingen police station has now announced.
The "video caused indignation and discussions on social media on Sunday," it continues.
However, it only shows an excerpt from the entire event.
In the meantime, the recordings from an officer’s body cam have been viewed.
Accordingly, the actions of the policeman were preceded by a physical attack by the "aggressive" man: he had clutched the 31-year-old officer and fell to the ground with him.
Then he hit the policeman and "seriously" injured his face.
The policeman's fist was finally hit "in order to overcome the man's massive resistance," as the statement says.
Due to the injuries, the officer is not fit for duty until further notice.
The arrested man was first taken to the office and then taken by ambulance to a hospital.
A preliminary investigation on suspicion of bodily harm had been initiated against the police officer who beat the man.
The procedure will be handed over to the police in Hildesheim for further investigations.
"Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated and pending completion of the criminal proceedings," the police said.
The arrested man is therefore a 28-year-old from Göttingen.
He is being investigated for, among other things, resistance to law enforcement officers, assault on police officers and insults.
"Because he had a one-hand knife with him at the time of the incident, the police also initiated proceedings against the man who was already known to the police for violating the weapons law."
"Partial information must not lead to a prejudice"
In a first communication on the case, the police said on Sunday that the 28-year-old was allegedly drunk.
The officers had already noticed him in advance in other places in the city center of Göttingen through verbally aggressive behavior and provocative gestures towards patrol cars driving past him.
In the Kornmarkt area, he finally stood in the way of a radio patrol and prevented the officers from continuing their journey.
When the police wanted to determine his identity, the man refused to identify himself several times.
Shortly afterwards, the scenes that are recorded in the video came up.
"However, such partial information must not lead to a prejudice," said the President of the Goettingen Police Department, Gwendolin von der Osten, about the recordings that were circulating on the Internet and caused a stir.
She continues to have great confidence in the work of the colleagues in the Göttingen police department.
aar