BERLIN – The German government on Monday condemned incidents on New Year’s Eve in which police officers and firefighters were attacked, mostly with fireworks.
People across Germany on Saturday resumed their tradition of setting off large numbers of fireworks in public places to see in the new year.
This was following two years in which sales of fireworks were banned as part of efforts to avoid overloading hospitals and discourage large public gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic — but the celebration did not come off without incident, with several instances of violent disorder and one reveller run over and killed by a drunk driver while setting off fireworks in the street, according to local reports.
01 January 2023, Saxony, Leipzig: An armoured police vehicle clears barricades. On the night of New Year’s Day, there were clashes between rioters and the police in the Connewitz district. (Photo by Sebastian Willnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The celebrations were accompanied by a large number of cases in which emergency officials were assailed with fireworks. In Berlin, the fire service counted at least 38 such attacks and said 15 officers were injured, and posted an image of a fire engine on social media that they said was so badly damaged it had to be taken out of service.
Police said they had 18 injured officers, German news agency dpa reported. Germany’s police union (GdP) leader Stephan Weh said on the morning of January 1st that “across Germany that fireworks are being used specifically as a weapon against people” and called for sales bans to be discussed.
Berlin Mayor Franziska Giffey said that “this scale of readiness to use violence and destruction … damages our city.” She tweeted that her administration will discuss expanding the number of areas in which fireworks are banned.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who thanked police for intervening with more than 100 arrests in Berlin alone, said that “the perpetrators must now feel the legal consequences clearly.”
Shopping cart with burning objects on an intersection. On the night of New Year’s Day, there were clashes between rioters and the police in the Connewitz district. (Photo by Sebastian Willnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his administration “of course condemn in the strongest terms these, in some cases, massive assaults.”
Members of the public were also subjected to attacks, with police describing an incident in which a bus and people on the street were targeted with fireworks.
A police water cannon extinguishes fire at a barricade. On the night of New Year’s Day, there were clashes between rioters and the police in the Connewitz district. (Photo by Sebastian Willnow/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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