Opponents of the corona measures protested in several German cities on Saturday. In Frankfurt, the police broke up two anti-vaccination demonstrations after serious violations of the assembly requirements.

The participants would have to disregard the distance rules and not wear masks, the police reported on the short message service Twitter. Around 500 people each gathered at Opernplatz and on a central access road in the Westend to demonstrate against the Corona policy. They encountered counter-demonstrators and strong police forces who kept the two sides apart.

After being asked to end the event, the police brought water cannons into position in the pouring rain, but initially did not use them. The demonstrators initially defended themselves with chants like “Freedom” or “We are the people”, but then left the scene, as reported by reporters from the German Press Agency. The Frankfurt Public Order Office had issued extensive requirements in order to exclude violations of corona protection regulations.

5000 vaccine skeptics come together in Hamburg

Several thousand people demonstrated in Hamburg against the Corona rules. In total, around 5,000 so-called lateral thinkers and vaccine skeptics gathered, said a police spokeswoman on request. A number of 2000 participants had been registered. The demonstration, which had been taking place for weeks, had been peaceful, but there were difficulties with keeping a distance.

The demonstration march was under the motto “The measure is full – hands off our children” and moved through the city center. Last week around 3000 people attended the demonstration.

For some time now, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been observing the coronavirus deniers groupings “Hamburg stands up” and “lateral thinking 40”. YOU are therefore suspected of calling for resistance against the democratic constitutional state that goes beyond peaceful protest. State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Marco Haase, said that these groups are currently only a small part of the protest spectrum in Hamburg. “But: We will keep the development very carefully and sensitively in focus, since of course individual people, such as right-wing extremism, Islamism or left-wing extremism, could pose a threat to our democracy.”

Chrupalla demonstrates in Potsdam

In Potsdam, AfD supporters protested against the corona restrictions and a possible vaccination requirement. The reason for the rally, in which the AfD spokesman Tino Chrupalla took part, was the end of a multi-day vigil “against mandatory vaccination and corona madness” near the state parliament. Counter-demonstrators also gathered and took action.

The parliamentary state parliamentary group of the AfD state parliamentary group, Dennis Hohloch, managing director announced further protest actions, including on the sidelines of the next state parliament session in Potsdam in mid-December. He put the number of participants on Saturday at around 200 to 250, a dpa reporter on site estimated the number of AfD supporters and counter-demonstrators to be around 100 each. The police did not provide any information in the early evening.

Protesters take to the streets despite the ban

In Berlin, despite a ban on demonstrations, opponents of the Corona measures took to the streets. The police spoke of a number of participants in the “lower three-digit range”. The demonstrators moved illegally through Berlin-Friedrichshain.

There were several arrests for violating the Corona rules and for resisting the officials, it was said. A journalist who filmed the protests on his cell phone was reportedly attacked by a participant. This had snatched the smartphone from him. The journalist was able to get it back after a scuffle, it was said. The alleged perpetrator has to answer for attempted robbery.

A demonstration by anti-vaccination opponents and corona skeptics with 1000 participants, originally registered for Saturday, was banned on Friday. According to the police, the reason for the ban was that the participants would regularly ignore the corona rules.

Around 500 people demonstrate in Hanover

Several hundred people demonstrated in Hanover because of the corona policy. Around 500 people came to a meeting of the AfD regional association of Lower Saxony at noon in front of the state parliament, as a police spokeswoman said. Another rally by the Left District Association of Hanover attracted around 100 demonstrators by noon. Both meetings were “peaceful and trouble-free” until noon, according to the spokeswoman. The demonstrations should last until the afternoon.

The AfD demonstration had been registered under the title “End the 2G dictation – freedom and self-determination for the citizens of our country”. The motto of the demonstration of the left is “Mask on and syringe in. Solidarity through the crisis! ”The police expected traffic obstructions because of the demonstrations in Hanover’s old town.

Trier: Security forces are required

In Trier, a rally by critics of the current Corona rules and a counter-demonstration called for the security forces. As the police announced, a total of up to 400 people from both camps demonstrated in the pedestrian zone at times. “In doing so, we noticed at today’s meetings that the mood among the divergent groups is increasingly heating up,” the police said.

It was thanks to the de-escalating, but also at times “very specific” action taken by the police that there were no attacks. How many people were assigned was initially unclear.

According to information, the demonstrations were permitted by the city of Trier subject to pandemic control. Compliance with these has been strictly controlled and monitored. “In principle, we enable protests and do not prevent them. At the same time, however, the area of ​​tension in which we operate is becoming increasingly complex and larger, ”emphasized the police.