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Demonstration in Leer, Lower Saxony: Demonstrations also took place in several small towns across Germany on Saturday
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Lars Penning / dpa
The Germany-wide wave of protests against right-wing extremism and for democracy continues: This weekend, tens of thousands took to the streets all over Germany - in small and large cities. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke on Twitter (formerly X) of a strong “sign for democracy and our Basic Law.”
The largest of the events took place on Saturday in Berlin. According to the police, more than 150,000 people were there in the afternoon - the organizers spoke of around 300,000 participants. Symbolically, those present formed a human chain under the motto “We are the firewall.” Behind the campaign against hate and for tolerance is an alliance with more than 1,300 organizations.
Numerous people also demonstrated in Dresden with flags, banners and posters. According to the organizers, there were around 30,000 people; the police did not provide any specific information about the number of participants. It was different in Halle: According to the police, around 1,300 people gathered on the market square and formed a human chain.
There were several rallies in the north on Saturday. According to the police, around 7,000 St. Pauli fans in Hamburg demonstrated peacefully through the club's hometown part. According to the police, around 7,000 people also met in Hanover and formed a human chain around the state parliament. In addition to the rally in the state capital, there were also demonstrations in Lower Saxony in numerous smaller towns such as Georgsmarienhütte near Osnabrück, Wolfenbüttel, Brake and Leer.
Saturday was similar in North Rhine-Westphalia: According to police, around 10,000 people came together in Krefeld, more than 2,500 in Schwelm, and around 500 in Herdecke and Würselen. In Bavaria, too, there were large rallies in Nuremberg and Augsburg, for example Around 25,000 participants each held individual demonstrations in smaller towns.
There had already been demonstrations in several smaller towns across Germany on Friday evening - for example in Bückeburg (500 people), Ostrhauderfehn (350) and Lütjenburg (300). In Güstrow there were 350 participants.
For a good three weeks, thousands of people in Germany have been taking to the streets against right-wing extremism. The trigger was research by Correctiv into a meeting between radical right-wingers and individual politicians from the AfD, CDU and the Union of Values in Potsdam.
spr/dpa