bHundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country on Saturday against right-wing extremism and for democracy. According to initial counts by the police and the organizers, a total of at least 300,000 people demonstrated. In some cities, final figures from both sides were not yet available.
According to police and organizers, there were 35,000 people in Frankfurt am Main and Hanover alone – one motto was “Defend Democracy”. The Frankfurt Römer was full of people carrying banners with slogans like “All together against fascism” and “No place for Nazis.”
Tens of thousands of people also came together in other cities to protest peacefully – for example against the rise of the AfD. Tens of thousands more people were expected to demonstrate across the country by Sunday evening.
Because: Let’s defend our democracy
In Hanover, Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil (SPD) called on people at the rally to take a clear stance against right-wing extremism in their own environment and to stand up for human rights and democracy. “Let’s defend our democracy,” he appealed. The demonstrators carried posters with slogans such as “We are colorful” and “Fascism is not an alternative”. According to the police, around 15,000 people also demonstrated in Braunschweig.
In Dortmund the police put the number of participants at 30,000. In Wuppertal the police estimated the number of participants at around 10,000 and in Recklinghausen at around 12,000. The motto of the demo there was “Together and in solidarity! Against exclusion, hatred and agitation!”. In Stuttgart, people gathered under the motto “All together against the AfD”.
A spokesman for the organizer – the Stuttgart Alliance Against the Right – estimated the number of participants at 20,000 people, a police spokesman thought that was possible. According to the police in Karlsruhe, there were also 20,000. According to the police, around 18,000 people came together in Heidelberg.
Significantly more demonstrators than expected
In Kassel, the police spoke of 12,000 participants – twelve times as many as expected. Participants carried posters with slogans such as “Nazis and anti-Semites must be expatriated” and “Together against extremists for democracy”. According to the police, there were more than 12,000 demonstrators in Giessen.
Thousands of people also took to the streets in Bavaria, including at least 15,000 in Nuremberg, according to police. Chants shouted: “The whole of Nuremberg hates the AfD!” In Erfurt, according to the police, there were 9,000 people, the organizers spoke of 10,000. According to official information, around 16,000 participants demonstrated in Halle/Saale.
Already on Friday evening, a demonstration against the right-wing and the AfD in Hamburg had to be canceled due to the large number of people. One of the organizers cited safety concerns. The police said there were 50,000 participants, the organizers assumed there were 80,000.
In particular, representatives of trade unions, associations, the Greens and the SPD called for people to take part in the protests. CDU leader Friedrich Merz described the nationwide demonstrations as encouraging. “The 'silent' majority is raising its voice and showing that it wants to live in a country that is cosmopolitan and free,” he said in response to a request from the German Press Agency on Saturday morning in Berlin. “We stand by those who are committed to our democracy, our rule of law and our open society,” said Merz.
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