At the left-wing demonstration on the evening of May 1st in Berlin-Neukölln, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution expects 5,000 to 20,000 participants. That said Claudia Langeheine from the authority on Monday in the Committee for the Protection of the Constitution. “We assume that violent people will spread out in the elevator.”
However, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not want to share concrete findings about possible outbreaks of violence in the public session. Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) wants to provide information on Tuesday about the demonstrations and the actions of the police.
It is still unclear whether the so-called “Revolutionary May Day Demonstration” can move on the planned route through Neukölln to Kreuzberg. The district of Neukölln is planning three street festivals at very short notice, exactly on the route, on Sonnenallee, at the town hall and on Hermannplatz. Interior State Secretary Torsten Akmann (SPD) said that the route might still be disputed in court.
The left-wing group “Migrantifa Berlin”, which wants to lead the demonstration, had accused the district of “dirty tricks” with which the demonstration should be restricted. The three street festivals were only announced for this reason.
Akmann regretted that the earlier major festival “Mayfest” was not taking place again in Kreuzberg because it slowed down violent demonstrators. Unfortunately, the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district decided against it.
More than 10,000 demonstrators are expected to take part in a large bicycle parade through the villa district of Grunewald on the afternoon of May 1st. This demonstration appeals to both left-wing extremists and peaceful participants, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
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April 30th will also be a day of demonstrations. A street festival is planned for the afternoon near the house on Rigaer Strasse, which is partially occupied by left-wing autonomists Tor protested against the planned police station.
At the same time, up to 2,000 people are expected in Wedding at the annual left-wing demonstration. In the evening, a radical left-wing feminist women’s demonstration entitled “Take Back the Night” moves through Prenzlauer Berg to Mitte.
Last year, several thousand people demonstrated in Neukölln on the evening of May 1st. Violence erupted in some places, stones and bottles were thrown, and demonstrators set dumpsters on fire. Violence by smaller groups from the left-wing autonomous scene and attacks on the police have been part of the usual course of demonstrations in recent decades. However, the big street battles of the 80s and 90s were long gone.
