A man is standing on a small stage in front of the Reichstag building. He points to the building in which the German Bundestag has its seat and says that everyone in it "has failed and betrayed for decades". He sees, he continues, "many flags of my fatherland are waving here," he says - the black, red and white flags of the empire: "Because the German Reich stood for peace and justice in the world."
He lifts his forefinger: "The saying is true: The world should recover with the German being!" So many good things have been done in the world, including Africa. "Infrastructure, education, prosperity, whatever," he says of the colonial era. He says nothing about the genocide of the Herero or the Nama. Africa would have flourished in colonial times - and "no masses had to flee here". Many clap, several yell "Yes!".
Meanwhile, a woman is sitting on a barrier not far from him. She came with a handcart with water bottles and signs saying about vaccinations. She turns to a couple who are standing next to her: "It's all a little too much Germany for me". That's not what she came here for.
But she stays seated - and at the end she claps too.
Tens of thousands of people came together on Saturday in the center of Berlin to demonstrate against corona protective measures, especially against mouth and nose masks, but above all against the government. Again, the demonstrators constantly violated conditions. Again they stayed on the street. Again people with rainbow flags demonstrated next to those in right-wing extremist T-shirts.
With this event, the alliance of corona deniers is solidified, in which organized right-wing extremism is not in control, but to which it now belongs as a matter of course.
Ban lifted in court
Until the night before it was not at all clear whether there would be a demonstration - or if there was, then under what circumstances. Berlin had banned the march during the week. As early as August 1st, at the last such event, hygiene requirements had been breached across the board. That is to be expected again.
But while supporters flooded the Berlin police with demonstration registrations, the organizers took legal action against it and won the case before the Berlin administrative court. The higher administrative court then decided that night that it would stay that way.
So people gather in the morning and noon in Berlin-Mitte. A part at the Victory Column, the place of the rally in the afternoon, and in the Tiergarten, the surrounding park, a part on the Straße des 17. Juni and in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where music by Xavier Naidoo can be heard from a loudspeaker van. Then continue along the boulevard Unter den Linden to the Friedrichstraße station, where the demonstration train should officially start before the rally.
Karoline Preisler, FDP politician from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is standing on Pariser Platz not far from the Brandenburg Gate in the morning. In her hand she holds a pack of simple surgical masks and she carries a sign: "I had Covid-19 and I am worried about you." Red hearts are painted on it. Maybe, she says, she could reach someone.
Again and again people approach her, looking for a conversation. Sometimes they doubt that Germany is a democracy. Sometimes she's up to completely different things. A woman asks angrily whether the masks are made of plastic? "Plastic is evaporating!" She shouts. "You can't put plastic masks on your children."
"It doesn't work without love"
Ursula, 48
Not far from here, a group of women are holding heart-shaped balloons. Ursula is one of them, she just wants to give her first name. The 48-year-old came specially from Baden-Württemberg. She says she demonstrates against the corona measures, she does not want to be a corona denier. "The virus is a threat," she says. And the balloons? "It doesn't work without love," she says. Love, a word that keeps falling.
Not far away, however, you can hear a man giving a lecture to three others about the need for resistance, that the Basic Law provides for that there are people who are preparing armed resistance. How did you find the lecture? No, you don't want to say anything.
It's the same bold mix that recently took to the streets: peace activists, anti-vaccination opponents, conspiracy theorists, such as those from Q-Anon, right-wing extremists, and many who cannot be assigned at first glance. An Austrian, for example, who says he drove an extra nine hours and does not want Angela Merkel's government to implement such strict measures again.
Berlin's Senator for the Interior spoke of up to 38,000 participants
Except that this time even more came than at the beginning of August. The expectations of the organizers have been exceeded, the police announced in the evening. They had already registered 22,000 people. Berlin's Senator for the Interior Andreas Geisel (SPD) spoke of up to 38,000 participants. That would be about twice as many as at the beginning of August. Still a small part of the population who, in polls, overwhelmingly support government policies. But still a considerable group - especially in this composition.
Frequently seen are the flags of Germany, Sweden, which is idealized by Corona deniers because of its somewhat milder restrictions, the USA, mostly with reference to Donald Trump, and Russia. In addition, there are some flags with the dove of peace, several rainbow flags, a striking number of black-white-red flags of the German Empire and some red-yellow-black Wirmer flags, which became a symbol of radical right-wing groups, especially through Pegida.
Numerous radical right and right-wing extremist groups mobilized and called for demonstrations. Including the party Der 3. Weg, the NPD, Björn Höcke and other representatives of the AfD and Martin Sellner from the Identitarian Movement.
The organized radical right cannot be overlooked
One cannot overlook the organized radical right here. One would not do justice to reality if one described this event as right-wing extremist through and through. One would not do justice to reality either, if one did not describe the fact that the masses were interspersed with people who, with their flags, T-shirts and tattoos, were clearly recognizable as right-wing extremists.
When asked whether he doesn't think that there are many here who don't feel like freedom, a man replies, but there are certainly some who only want freedom for their own group. It doesn't seem to bother him very much, he has to continue now, to follow the demonstration. The attitude could be summarized as follows: Oh, yes, Nazis are there too.
All these people have now felt themselves to be a common movement for a second time, this type of alliance is becoming more natural, along with the presence of the organized radical right, which among all groups should have a clear idea of what they would like to take the place of current system would put. While their representatives usually have to reckon with a large parade of counter-demonstrators, here they are clearly visible in the crowd, the counter-protests are far away.
When the police announce the hygiene rules, the demonstrators whistle
Counter-demonstrators have also positioned themselves on Friedrichstrasse, for example. "You are marching with Nazis and fascists," they shout, but they are clearly outnumbered.
The impression remains: so relaxed and naturally obvious right-wing extremists and police officers are rarely in sight of each other at demonstrations.
The police let the demonstrators do their thing during the day anyway, although hardly anyone takes hygiene rules seriously. Almost nobody wears a mask that is initially not mandatory. A man has hung a net over his mouth and nose. A 50 euro note covers his mouth. "That's the fine," he yells. When the police announce the hygiene rules, the demonstrators whistle. You hardly keep your distance - although at least that's a requirement.
Shortly after noon the police have enough and they announce new requirements for the demonstration train from Friedrichstrasse station - including a mask requirement. Then she officially breaks up the train. However, it will be hours before the participants leave the area. The police mostly let them go. She pulls out some demonstrators that there have been bottles thrown, she later said.
The mask requirement does not apply to the rally at the Großer Stern in the afternoon. The organizers only have to pay attention to the distances. They announce this from the stage in many languages, stewards give instructions on the square around the Victory Column, policemen roam through the rows and ask nicely to move apart without having any great effect. In parts around the Victory Column, people stand, sit and lie close together. Nevertheless, Berlin's Senator for the Interior Geisel said in a statement in the evening that the organizer had enforced this.
As hard as the police were obviously trying to avoid an escalation, it did happen in the evening. In front of the Russian embassy, a center of attraction for citizens of the Reich and other right-wing extremists all day long, according to the insider Geisel, 2,000 to 3,000 right-wing extremists are said to have gathered. The police arrested 200 of them after the riots - including the well-known conspiracy theorist Attila Hildmann. Videos show the crowd watching "Putin, Putin!" calls.
And shortly before 8 p.m. the situation escalated again in front of the Reichstag, where at noon the woman with the water bottles had been listening to a man who glorified colonialism. A group of people are storming towards the building, as videos show. The police said they had come to the stairs. Shortly afterwards, the demonstrators were pushed off the premises. Some shout: "Traitors."
Icon: The mirror
