From BZ/dpa
Berlin is again celebrating New Year’s Eve at the Brandenburg Gate: Thousands of visitors clapped, danced and sang to Sasha and DJ Bobo on Pariser Platz.
For Berlin’s Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD) on New Year’s Eve, Pariser Platz was “simply the best place you can find that evening”. According to the police, around 1,300 people came there to be able to attend the party in front of the Brandenburg Gate for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic. Thousands more gathered in front of the barrier on Unter Den Linden to see performances by Sasha, DJ Bobo, Laurell or the Scorpions.
The ZDF New Year’s Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate was much smaller than in previous years. Tickets for the Celebrate at the Gate themed show were all sold out. This caused displeasure among many who did not have tickets and had nevertheless come to the Brandenburg Gate. Firecrackers and rocket shots could be heard again and again around Pariser Platz.
Instead of the official fireworks, there was to be a light show at midnight. “We are happy that the city is full again, that people are coming to us again and that Berlin is taking off again after the pandemic,” said Mayor Giffey. In the past two years there had only been one television broadcast without visitors due to the Corona crisis.
A police car is parked on the sidewalk near the Brandenburg Gate Photo: dpa
However, most Berliners did not celebrate New Year’s Eve at the Brandenburg Gate. Unlike on New Year’s Eve in the previous two years, clubs and discotheques were open again this year. This is probably one of the reasons why many tourists flocked to the capital at the turn of the year, according to Visit Berlin. Hotels expected 80 to 90 percent occupancy.
More than 40 fires in an hour
In Berlin, however, not everyone was interested in celebrating the New Year peacefully. The fire brigade and police were in a state of emergency in the evening. The fire brigade counted more than 40 fire operations within one hour. A large-scale operation took place on Urbanstrasse in Berlin-Kreuzberg. In the meantime, around 70 people were fighting a basement fire in a seven-storey apartment building.
Police operation in Uhlandstrasse in Berlin-Wilmersdorf Photo: Spreepicture
Eleven people, two cats and a dog were rescued, the fire department said on Twitter. “Seven other people were taken to safety as a precaution.” Two people had come to the hospital. Nothing was known about the severity of the injuries and the cause of the fire late in the evening.
On Twitter, the police reported operations every minute because of fights, shots from alarm pistols, firecrackers and rockets thrown at passers-by, buildings and officials. Three no-gun zones were set up across the city. Everywhere in the capital there were already gunfire during the day – even if this was officially only allowed from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
“It already seems to be midnight on Sonnenallee in #Neukölln. People gathered on it in larger groups and greeted the new year with a bang,” the police tweeted. Bottles were also thrown at officials in Neukölln.
In the Tiergarten district, four people had climbed into the zoo and had to be taken out by officials. In Altglienicke, according to the police, three children were standing in front of their neighbor’s door because the parents are said to have argued so much at home. Officials also went there.
According to the fire brigade, around 1,200 people were deployed, around three times as many as usual. The Berlin police had announced 1100 additional forces at the turn of the year.