Protest against Corona measures: Thousands at demos in several cities

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Meeting in Frankfurt was forbidden

Almost 100 people took part in a prohibited demonstration in Frankfurt am Main. The police said they disbanded the meeting. Officials checked personal details and issued dismissals.

The city had already banned the registered demonstration on Thursday. She feared that the protesters would “almost certainly” disregard the requirements due to the corona pandemic. 1500 people were registered for the demonstration. Two days earlier, the regulatory office had banned four planned rallies by the same applicant.

At a demonstration by the AfD in Berlin against the compulsory vaccination and at various counter-events, it remained quiet until the evening. The police said that significantly fewer participants were counted on both sides than had been registered.

Demonstrations also in the west and south

In Trier, around 500 people took to the streets because of the Corona rules. More than 400 of them demonstrated against the regulations and the compulsory vaccination for certain professional groups. The other 100 or so people had gathered for a counter-demonstration, the police said. But there were no major incidents. The critics of the Corona measures had to be sent off several times because they did not comply with the police’s orders.

There were also demonstrations in Bavaria. In Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz initially 1,300 people met, as the police announced. When the demonstration marched in motion, others had joined, so that around 2000 people ran along at the top. It was said that there were only isolated violations. According to the police, almost 2,000 people also gathered for a rally in Fürth. The demonstration was peaceful, said a police spokesman.

44,000 participants in the protest march in Vienna

There were also protests in several neighboring countries. A large demonstration was organized in Austria’s capital Vienna. According to the police, around 15,000 people came together for a rally on Heldenplatz. A total of around 44,000 people took part in a subsequent protest march.

The head of the right-wing FPÖ, Herbert Kickl, called at the rally to oppose the mandatory vaccination planned from February. This measure as well as the unlimited lockdown for unvaccinated people are an “attack on humanity”. “This government is acting sadistically,” said the right-wing populist in front of his supporters. With the support of four of the five parliamentary parties, the government is planning a mandatory vaccination in preparation for further corona waves. There are high fines for those who refuse to be vaccinated.

In the past few weeks there had been several large demonstrations against the government’s corona policy in Vienna.

Attacks on police officers in Luxembourg

In Luxembourg City there were violent protests during a demo against the Corona measures. 500 people protested against stricter requirements. According to the police, some participants specifically sought the violent confrontation and threw fireworks and bottles at the emergency services. The gathering was broken up and there were several arrests.

With information from Michael Schneider, ARD-Studio Brussels