Fireworks over the Brandenburg Gate at the turn of the year (symbolic photo)
From BZ/dpa
After two years of strict restrictions due to the corona pandemic, a New Year’s Eve celebration is to take place again this year near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin with numerous visitors.
A concert with many musicians is planned for the evening of January 31 under the motto “Celebrate at the Gate”. The organizers speak on their website of “Germany’s most spectacular New Year’s Eve celebration” at the “most iconic place in Berlin”.
Details on the musicians, the process and possible restrictions due to the ongoing corona pandemic, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine have not yet been announced, but will follow in the near future, it said.
In the past two years, the big celebrations at the Brandenburg Gate with tens of thousands of visitors had been canceled due to Corona. The traditional big fireworks were also largely cancelled. In 2021, only one television show and one concert without an audience took place there, which were televised. Musicians such as Marianne Rosenberg and Bonnie Tyler performed. Despite a ban, several thousand people gathered to celebrate shortly before midnight, prompting the police to intervene.
Fireworks rockets and New Year’s Eve firecrackers were not allowed to be sold nationwide in 2021. This was to prevent the hospitals from being further burdened. In addition, there was a ban on gatherings and fireworks in around 50 places, including Potsdamer Platz, Kottbusser Tor and Breitscheidplatz at the Memorial Church. Private celebrations were only allowed on a small scale.
Despite the bans, many people in Berlin’s neighborhoods organized private fireworks. It is not yet clear what the corona and fireworks regulations will look like this year.