By Isabel Herwig
6,300 officers are deployed when the Revolutionary May Day demonstration starts in Neukölln at 6 p.m. and moves to Kreuzberg – past the new police station at Kottbusser Tor. The police expect 10,000 to 15,000 participants. The potential for violence is high. Read all developments in the live blog here!
► 7:05 p.m.: Police chief Barbara Slowik looks at the demo on Kottbusser Damm from above, reports BZ reporter Axel Lier.
► 6:59 p.m.: The police from North Rhine-Westphalia have set up a kind of lock at the corner of Kottbusser Damm and Sanderstrasse.
A lock at the corner of Kottbusser Sanderstraße Photo: Axel Lier
► 6:53 p.m.: The first bottles should fly in the direction of the officials. Fireworks are also set off. Officers are now wearing helmets.
Policemen with helmets Photo: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
► 6:51 p.m.: Demo is now running through Friedelstrasse. Apparently, some demonstrators knot several banners. The police say: “Stupid idea”.
► 6.48 p.m.: Benjamin Jendro, spokesman for the Berlin Police Union when asked by the BZ: “Extremist ideas have no place on the streets of Berlin. Unfortunately, it was to be expected that pro-Palestinian anti-Semites would also be able to mingle with the revolutionary 6 p.m. demonstration and shout their slogans. Our colleagues will do their best to single them out among the tens of thousands who are on the streets of Neukölln. In dynamic situations, this cannot always happen immediately and the colleagues have to be aware of it. Therefore, we ask anyone who overhears these vile statements to contact the local police and not to discuss it first on social media.
► 6.43 p.m.: Berlin’s police spokeswoman Beate Ostertag on the anti-Semitic slogans: “We heard about it from our social media team and are currently evaluating it. There are several interpreters in the area from the Berlin police who listen carefully. Of course, these cannot be everywhere. Therefore, we are of course grateful for every tip. The organizer has conditions and must follow them. The police leader decides.” And further: “There are several escalation levels. People who shout slogans can be taken out of the elevator. If it escalates, the elevator will have to be dismantled if necessary.”
► 6.42 p.m.: Left-wing politician Ferat Kocak has arrived at Hermannplatz. He is a parliamentary observer at the demo.
► 6.39 p.m.: BZ reporter Isabel Pfannkuche reports for us from the middle of the demo – now on the corner of Hermannstrasse and Karl-Marx-Strasse.
► 6.30 p.m.: As reported by Deutschlandfunk, the demonstrators of the satirical “MyGruni” demo in Grunewald stopped in front of the house of a Jewish family and shouted “expropriation”. A spokeswoman told the radio station: “This is an isolated case that is bad. We take a clear anti-right position.”
► 6:27 p.m.: Demo is very popular.
Banners are held up during the protest march Photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa
► 6:23 p.m.: Our local reporter reports that the first Bengalos are being fired.
A Bengalo burns in the front part of the demo Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
► 6:22 p.m.: In the Mariannenstrasse, the police have now been properly stocked up.
Police officers are on Mariannenstrasse Photo: Axel Lier
► 6:12 p.m.: Meanwhile, the mood in Kreuzberg is relaxed. There was a party atmosphere in many places. There’s dancing in the Wrangelkiez.
► 6:11 p.m.: The demo is now moving on Hermannstrasse.
► 6.10 p.m.: Some demonstrators make no secret of their hatred of Jews. A poster reads: “Boycott Israeli Apartheid”. The police were also on the road with interpreters and state security experts.
► 18.07: So far, around 2,000 demonstrators have gathered on Hermannstrasse. The demo train was supposed to start at 6 p.m. but was delayed.
► 6:03 p.m.: According to police documents, the Kottbusser Bridge becomes a neuralgic point. There is now also mobile lighting for the 2nd Technical Task Force.
► 5:51 p.m.: Berlin’s chief of police, Barbara Slowik, was very satisfied with the way May Day had gone in the city so far. So far everything has been relaxed and peaceful, Slowik told the DPA in the afternoon after getting an impression of the situation. If it stays that peaceful, that would be great, she said.
► 5.50 p.m.: The last generation has also joined the demo and is present with the banner “Last generation before the tipping point”. Climate stickers also distribute flyers.
The last generation also mingled with the demonstrators on Boddinstrasse Photo: Isabel Pancake
► 5.43 p.m.: Anti-Semitic slogans at the beginning of the May 1 Revolutionary Demo in Neukölln.
► 5:33 p.m.: Can you still remember Karsten Bonack? The policeman and six colleagues secured the Reichstag in August 2020 when a mob of 400 people wanted to storm Parliament. He is always on duty where things get particularly tricky, and was also involved in the Liebig34 evacuation. Today he is in action at the Kotti.
Karsten Bonack is on duty at the Kotti today Photo: Axel Lier
► 5:29 p.m.: When the demo passes the Kotti guard tonight, things will get tight. Police and demonstrators are in the eye of a needle there. The guard is therefore protected from the front. Mobile construction site lighting was also set up. Guard was taped up from behind.
The Kotti guard becomes a danger point during the demo. Already in the afternoon she is protected Photo: Axel Lier
► 5:26 p.m.: The police helicopter circles over Neukölln.
► 5:24 p.m.: It’s full in Kreuzberg. Police officers secure the street on Oranienstrasse so that one or the other car can get through.
Pedestrians have long since taken over the street on Oranienstrasse Photo: Axel Lier
► 5:08 p.m.: The demo starts in Neukölln. The elevator is supposed to start moving around 6 p.m.
The demo starts shortly after 5 p.m., it is supposed to start moving around 6 p.m Photo: Isabel Pancake
► 5:07 p.m.: According to Interior Senator Iris Spranger, the fire brigade, which was attacked during riots on New Year’s Eve in Berlin, is being protected by the police during operations related to the demonstration. According to BZ information, there are police officers in front of four fire stations who accompany the firefighters on missions: Wedding, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg and Neukölln
► 5:05 p.m.: Police President Barbara Slowik referred in advance to bans on the demonstration in the evening, such as balaclavas and protective equipment for masking. The glorification of violence and anti-Semitic statements as well as hate speech against Israel were also forbidden.
► 5:01 p.m.: Between 300 and 500 participants are currently gathering on Hermannstraße. Some with Palestine flags. Berlin police and federal police have gathered on Flughafenstrasse.
Around 5 p.m., Hermannstraße is slowly becoming fuller Photo: Isabel Pancake
► 4:47 p.m.: On this route, they moved the Revolutionary May Day demonstration through Berlin
