Some 300 people were arrested last night in Berlin alone during incidents during New Year’s celebrations, the Police reported today, which has also reported that 15 officers were injured in the operation, the largest so far.
Most of the people were arrested for violations of the Explosives Law.
In the rest of the country, at least two 18-year-old men died from injuries caused by fireworks.
In total almost 5,000 police officers were on duty in the German capital to prevent riots and incidents similar to those of last year: 3,500 police officers from various federal states patrolled the streets, especially in previous New Year’s Eve hot spots such as in Neukölln, Mitte or Schöneberg.
There were also 1,000 police officers at police stations and 500 federal police officers at train stations in what was the largest police operation on New Year’s Eve. In addition, 1,500 firefighters worked in Berlin throughout the night.
Last year, riots and attacks against police officers and first responders occurred across the country. Berlin was especially affected. This year, the police were also concerned about the war in Gaza, so a pro-Palestinian demonstration on New Year’s Eve was banned. Still, on Sunday afternoon about 2,000 people participated in a demonstration.
There were several firecracker ban zones throughout the capital, but despite this there were several incidents, such as at Alexanderplatz, where around 500 people threw firecrackers and rockets at each other. A group of 200 people launched fireworks at the police.
Meanwhile, some 65,000 people peacefully celebrated the traditional New Year’s Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate.