Berlin. On the fourth anniversary of the large “Querdenken” demonstration against the Corona measures of the time, thousands of demonstrators once again marched through Berlin. Not far from the Victory Column in the Tiergarten district, they gathered for a rally of the “Querdenken 711” movement under the motto “Freedom, Peace, Joy”. The topic of the pandemic played a role again this time, but overall it was not the only thing that the participants were concerned about.
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Some called on banners for “coronavirus measures to be reviewed” and “consequences for those responsible.” Other participants waved flags with the dove of peace or held up posters with the slogan “Create peace without weapons,” which was well-known from the days of the peace movement. The peace sign was also seen several times.
Speaker calls for withdrawal from NATO
Criticism of the traffic light coalition was not only articulated between the lines: “Away with the complete idiots in the government – for regionality, direct democracy, limitation of power.” Posters of the party Die Basis, which is considered the party-political arm of the “lateral thinkers” movement, read, among other things, “capable of peace instead of capable of war”, a response to the statement by Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) that Germany must be capable of war by 2029.
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One speaker called for withdrawal from NATO and shouted, “We want a government that represents our interests and not those of the USA and big business.” A speaker on stage declared in the afternoon, “The Basic Law is not a constitution, at least not for us.”
“Querdenken” initiator Michael Ballweg, who registered the rally, explained what he and his supporters are concerned about: “My core concern is the issue of fundamental rights. Of course, there is also the issue of peace, the issue of coming to terms with the past and, in particular, the issue of change.”
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With regard to their criticism of the federal government’s Corona policy, many of those around Ballweg see their views vindicated: Several participants wore T-shirts with the words “lateral thinkers were right – from the start” printed on them at chest height.
Police report posters referring to the banned “Compact” magazine
According to the Berlin police, the demonstration and rally were peaceful and without incident in the late afternoon. There were no arrests. However, there were several violations of the requirement not to display posters with reference to the magazine “Compact”, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as right-wing extremist and has since been banned.
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According to the police, the number of participants could not yet be determined conclusively, but according to police estimates, around 9,000 people took part in the demonstration and up to 12,000 in the rally. Between 5,000 and 17,000 had registered. According to police reports, a total of 500 police officers were deployed.
Parallel to the demo and rally, there were several counter-demonstrations. The organization “Grandmas against the Right” also took part. Counter-demonstrators displayed posters that read “Racism is not an alternative.” One banner read “No place for right-wing propaganda.” One speaker described the lateral thinkers’ theses as “anti-scientific fundamentalist nonsense” and called for more support for people suffering from long-term Covid.
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Ballweg criticizes deliberate delay on the part of the authority
Ballweg criticized the Berlin assembly authority and the police, accusing them of delaying the registration and organization of the rally and making it unnecessarily difficult, for example by – in his view – imposing unreasonable restrictions on the area intended for it. This time, for example, demonstrations were not allowed directly at the Victory Column.
With the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring 2020, the “Querdenken” movement formed in Stuttgart in many German cities. The supporters repeatedly demonstrated publicly against the political measures to contain the coronavirus.
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According to police, around 20,000 participants protested against the Corona measures at a demonstration by the “lateral thinkers” on August 2, 2020 in Berlin. According to the organizers, the number was many times higher.
