The number of participants in the Munich demo against the corona restrictions was limited to 1000. This number was reached 20 minutes before the start. The police were more troubled by the large number of demonstrators gathered on the edge of the Oktoberfest.
- Corona crisis in Munich: Citizens have demonstrated against the current regulations in several demonstrations .
- The demonstration against the restrictions due to the Corona crisis was peaceful, but the police had to issue around 600 expulsions .
- Here you will find our guide * for reporting and the Corona News from Germany *. We also provide current case numbers in Bavaria as a map. The following recommendations for Corona protective measures * are currently available. There is more on this topic and many other exciting stories in our app. How the download works.
The Corona demo on Theresienwiese went peacefully. Beyond the rally, however, 2500 people gathered around the Oktoberfest . The police stepped in and ordered 600 to be expelled . The initiators of the demo * also want to protest next Saturday.
The meeting on the #Theresienwiese has been running for about an hour with the approved number of participants.
There are still many people around the site who are significantly less than the minimum distance of 1.5 meters.
We are asking them to remove themselves. # Muc1605
A cardboard sign is stuck on the lectern on the stage. "Neither right nor left" is to be read on it. The message from the demo organizers : They don't want to be pushed into a corner. Real estate agent Sina Bodden, one of the speakers, said she was tired of being portrayed as a conspiracy theorist. And she finds it unbearable that so much fear of the virus is spread. "Fear, fear - and fear again."
Corona demo in Munich: City limits the number of rally participants
1000 demonstrators gather on Saturday in a spacious, cordoned off area on Theresienwiese. The city has not approved more for infection protection reasons . The initiators had announced the rally for 10,000 people. The maximum permitted number of 1000 participants was reached around 20 minutes before the start of the event. At 2:50 p.m., the police made an announcement for the first time via loudspeaker to the people who crowded along the Bavariaring on the edge of Theresienwiese : “1000 participants had been reached. Please leave the Oktoberfest. ”There is a whistling concert of the ever increasing number of people around the Oktoberfest.
Edge problems: Around 2500 people gathered around the Oktoberfest. The police intervened several times.
© Sigi Jantz
In the meantime, the police have not deployed a good 500 officers as announced, but rather 1,000 emergency services. "Not because we fear riots, but to be able to implement our strategy," as spokesman Marcus da Gloria Martins explains. The maxim is to limit the influx to the site in good time and extensively and to prevent further gatherings of people . The latter does not work. More on that later.
Some people at the #Theresienwiese do not abide by the applicable rules and ignore the loudspeaker announcements.
We are now beginning to take consistent action against these people with police measures. # muc1605
On the demo itself, the participants obediently keep the minimum distances of 1.5 meters. Between the speeches, music from the hippie musical "Hair" can be heard. The age structure of the demonstrators is mixed, the organizers themselves - all private individuals with no political background - are rather older semesters. The police later speak of a "predominantly bourgeois audience". Small groups from the extreme spectrum from the right and left were seen, however. There have been attempts to heat the crowd here. However, the majority of the people reacted reasonably.
Corona demo in Munich: leaflets with obscure theories
On the demo you can see banners with slogans like "freedom instead of coercion", other masks with the words "mundtot". But leaflets with obscure theories are also circulating. The speakers on stage denounce "the disproportionality of the corona measures " and speak of political arbitrariness. A doctor applauded with great applause: "Let's go back to normal life." Critics of the demo - especially conspiracy theorists - also face the barriers . You raise the question on posters: "Are you serious?"
Protest: Many demonstrators feel their freedom rights are restricted
© Sigi Jantz
It is 4 p.m., the people at the Bavariaring - around 2500 according to the police - are now close together. Several side streets are also closed off. The operations management team is waiting. Only at 4:20 p.m. did the police renew their request to leave the site immediately because it was an " unauthorized assembly ". Now the announcement comes every five minutes. The demonstrators chant: " Basic law , basic law!" Until the police take it seriously. More and more people who oppose are led away. The situation threatens to escalate briefly.
Corona demo in Munich: police pronounced 600 expulsions
But she doesn't. Because the police act with caution and there is no violence on the part of the demonstrators. In the end, however, 600 reprimands are pronounced, and identity is verified by more than 200 demonstrators. Over 20 people receive a complaint about a violation under the Infection Protection Act. Martins sums up: "We are very satisfied with the course." The protests in Nuremberg, Augsburg and Würzburg are also largely peaceful.
Football fan criticizes corona rules.
© Christina Pahnke / sampics
Dominik Krause, City Councilor and Chairman of the Munich Greens, is one of the few politicians to follow the scenery live on Saturday. Unlike a week ago at Marienplatz, the event did not get out of hand. Krause, who is relatively unsuspicious of being uncritical of state violence, says: "You have to praise the police sometimes." He judges the field of participants to be "very heterogeneous". The event had more of a “happening character”. Nevertheless, right-wing radicals have tried again to use the stage for their purposes.
Rigorous: Disruptors are removed by the police.
© Sigi Jantz
The organizers of the demo meanwhile want to protest again next Saturday. One is in good cheer, "then to stand here with 10,000 people," they say. Let's see how many people will approve the city this time.
* Merkur.de and tz.de are parts of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Rubric list image: © Sigi Jantz