The demonstrators came to Erding from all over Bavaria. The number of participants is estimated at 10,000. © Matthias Balk/dpa
Around 10,000 participants came to the demonstration in Erding. The traffic collapsed in the meantime, the organizers are satisfied overall.
Update from June 9, 12 noon: The large-scale demonstration in Erding has officially come to an end. Organizer Franz Widmann expressed his satisfaction in his closing speech: "I am happy about every single person who was here today. Take the spirit with you, carry it on, then it will be something, in Erding, in Bavaria, in the whole of Germany." Monika Gruber also appealed to the demo participants to say goodbye: "Today was just the beginning. We can only do it together, we all help together."
At the end, Economics Minister Aiwanger (FW) found words of praise for the cabaret artist and co-organizer Monika Gruber: "You are our heroine of Erding and of Bavaria and you will become the heroine of all of Germany. You've set a ball rolling that will pull the bow out from under the feet of the traffic lights in Berlin."
Up to 10,000 participants were on site in the meantime, according to the police, there were no incidents. Only the heat caused problems: some demonstrators collapsed and had to be cared for by the rescue workers.
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The AfD demonstration will take place parallel to the event on the edge of the fairgrounds. © Wolfgang Krzizok
Update from June 9, 11 a.m.: First he is greeted with boos and whistles when he arrives, then he can hardly make himself heard: Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has to interrupt his speech in Erding twice. Cabaret artist Monika Gruber tries to ensure peace and asks the troublemakers for respect.
Gruber announced right at the beginning of the event: "This is just the beginning, there will soon be something like this on the Theresienwiese in Munich." Further information is not yet known.
About 4000 to 6000 people have now gathered at the Erdinger Volksfestplatz and more and more are coming. Traffic has now completely collapsed, and the motorway exit is also completely closed. Gruber estimates that about 3000,4000 to 94,92 people are still stuck in traffic jams on the A<> and A<> and cannot get through to the site.
In addition to Söder, Erding's Lord Mayor Max Götz (CSU), BBV President Günther Felßner, the President of the Bavarian Forest Owners' Association, Josef Ziegler, and the Lower Bavarian chimney sweeper and member of the state parliament Hans Ritt have also spoken so far. Like Söder, FDP state leader Martin Hagen had a hard time making himself heard.
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Because they were not allowed to provide their own speaker, the AfD started its own demonstration on the sidelines of the major event. © Wolfgang Krzizok
Update from June 10, 9:20 a.m.: The starting signal for the demonstration against the climate policy of the traffic light has been given: More and more participants from all over Bavaria are flocking to Erding. There is already traffic chaos and the access roads are completely overloaded. In addition to Starnberg, Landshut and the rest of the Munich area, license plates from Passau and Regen are also on site.
With the words "I hope for a peaceful, expressive event", organizer Franz Widmann opened the event. His prominent supporter Monika Gruber, as well as Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW) and Bavarian Family Minister Ulrike Scharf have already arrived.
Under the motto "Traffic light replacement instead of heating replacement", the AfD will demonstrate from 9.30 a.m. on the edge of the Volksfestplatz. The party's request to be allowed to provide a speaker at the mega-demo itself had previously been rejected.
Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), Bavaria's FDP leader Martin Hagen, and the President of the Bavarian Farmers' Association, Günther Felßner, have also announced themselves as speakers. The Erding District Office expects a five-digit number of participants.
Markus Söder will speak alongside Monika Gruber at the mega demo in Erding. © Lindenthaler/Sven Simon/Imago Images
First reported on 9 June: Munich/Erding – Markus Söder comes to the Gruber demonstration in Erding. A spokesman for the State Chancellery in Munich confirmed Söder's participation in the event on Saturday. A possibly five-digit number of participants from all over Germany and Austria is expected.
Söder and Aiwanger there: Mobilize the liberal-conservative center of society
The most prominent face of the demonstration against the climate policy of the traffic light is the cabaret artist Monika Gruber, who herself lives in Erding. She wants to mobilize the "liberal-conservative center of society," she said recently in an interview with our editors.
She announced a "colourful list of speakers". How colorful, this has been talked about behind the scenes for days. It is known that Deputy Prime Minister Hubert Aiwanger, the head of the Free Voters, appears – but also talks to Bavaria's FDP leader Martin Hagen, a representative of the traffic light coalition, who, however, is struggling with details of the heating plans and demands changes.
"Clear signal from the middle of society": AfD and Greens apply for their own demonstrations
The participation of the CSU leader and prime minister is now new. From Söder's environment, it is said that he was personally invited by Gruber as a speaker. He will gladly accept this invitation. He shares the concerns of all people who feel increasingly abandoned by the traffic lights. The heating law is just another example of the aloofness of Berlin's politics. Söder sees the demo, he tweeted, as "a clear signal from the middle of society in the direction of Berlin".
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AfD is not allowed on the list of speakers – and therefore starts half an hour before
Gruber had explicitly rejected the appropriation of the demo by the AfD. The fact that a representative of the AfD is allowed to speak was rejected by the organizers. As a result, the Erdinger AfD has applied for its own demonstration on the subject on Saturday at 9.30 a.m. The Greens have registered a counter-demonstration. Here, too, supra-regional journeys are expected, the dimension is still unclear.
"It is very important to me that we bring the demonstration peacefully to the stage," says Gruber. The 51-year-old cabaret artist confirmed Söder's commitment. "I am pleased that the Prime Minister will speak," she told our editors, "because it shows that the politicians in Bavaria – unlike the gentlemen in Berlin – take the concerns and needs of their citizens seriously."
You can always read all the news from all over Bavaria with us. News and stories from Bavaria can also be found on our Facebook page Merkur Bayern.
