Pyrotechnics at the demo on May 1st in Berlin – a comment from BZ editor-in-chief Jan Schilde Photo: dpa picture radio
By Jan Schilde
May Day in Berlin. A comment from BZ editor-in-chief Jan Schilde.
6300 officers on duty. And in the end, the police were completely surprised. Suddenly the demo through Neukölln and Kreuzberg was over. Incidents: not significant.
Berlin experienced what appeared to be the most peaceful May Day in decades. In these troubled times, that’s almost a sensation.
From the outset, the demonstrations were extraordinarily peaceful. In addition, the police’s tactics, which followed the elevators very closely and immediately stopped any attempt at rioting, worked and ensured the peaceful course of events.
At 9 p.m. the police officers at Kottbusser Tor took off their helmets, and half an hour later the first barriers were already being dismantled. True to the motto: Please go on, there is nothing to see here.
After the election debacle false start of the new Senate, the first success of Black and Red. Interior Senator Iris Spranger passed the acid test. Berlin does that well.