As of: February 11, 2024, 9:55 p.m
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Police officers on the sidelines of a demonstration by right-wing extremists in front of the University of Technology and Economics.
© Robert Michael/dpa
A right-wing extremist march on the anniversary of the destruction of Dresden was met with loud counter-protest.
According to police, it remained peaceful overall.
Dresden - Several thousand people protested on Sunday against a march by right-wing extremists to mark the anniversary of Dresden's destruction in World War II.
According to the police, almost 5,000 people took part in the counter-protest in the pouring rain.
The police counted almost 1,000 participants in the right-wing extremist demonstration.
The police were on duty with a large contingent.
The right-wing extremists' elevator route on the edge of Dresden's city center was hermetically sealed, a dpa reporter reported.
At one point counter-demonstrators tried to get onto the route.
The police prevented that.
As she announced on X (formerly Twitter), around 150 people were taken into police action.
Identities have been established.
“The deployment came with restrictions for many Dresden residents.
However, these were necessary to fulfill our legal mandate,” said Police Chief Lutz Rodig, according to a statement in the evening.
The police had previously stated the goal of separating the camps and intervening in the event of possible blockades.
She had prepared for a “confrontational meeting situation”.
The Saxon police said they were supported by officers from Thuringia, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Bavaria and Hesse as well as the federal police.
A helicopter circled over Dresden and mounted police were also on site.
The counter-protest turned to loud chants against the right-wing extremist march.
According to observations by the dpa reporter, pyrotechnics were occasionally ignited.
Once a root was thrown.
Three demonstrations had united in the counter-protest.
Dresden was badly damaged in Allied air raids from February 13, 1945.
According to research by historians, up to 25,000 people lost their lives.
Right-wing extremists have been using the commemoration for years to organize so-called funeral marches.
By Sunday afternoon, the police had initiated 19 criminal proceedings.
According to the announcement from the evening, nine of these were directed against the right-wing camp, because of violations of the assembly law, the weapons law and the use of license plates of unconstitutional organizations.
According to the police, two participants in the right-wing march wore quartz gloves or protective gloves.
The criminal proceedings against ten counter-demonstrators included, among other things, breach of the peace, physical attacks on law enforcement officers and violations of the assembly law.
In his initial conclusion, spokesman Thomas Geithner spoke of an overall peaceful day for Dresden.
According to the police, no parade from the right-wing camp is planned on the actual anniversary of the destruction this Tuesday.
There are 25 meetings and nine events registered, five of which are from the right and the lateral thinker scene, 14 from the left and six from the civil spectrum.
Some of them are “placeholders” to occupy locations in Dresden.
dpa