Protests during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

Play media file

Noise demonstration with shouts “The houses for those who need them” in Berlin, March 28, 2020

Clearance of an intersection during the “ Revolutionary May Day ” protests in Berlin-Kreuzberg

Protests during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany have been taking place in German cities since the end of March 2020. Some are directed against the state measures enacted on the basis of the Infection Protection Act, including exit restrictions and restrictions on the right of assembly . Others are directed against rental prices or the transport of nuclear waste or demand solidarity with refugees. Also, Easter marches and rallies on May Day took place during the pandemic. In addition , protests have been taking place in Germany since the end of May as part of the global Black Lives Matter movement .

In some federal states , administrative courts , police or municipal ordinances prohibited or restricted some protests. On April 15, 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled out a blanket ban on gatherings for more than two people as inadmissible. Nevertheless, the requirements for infection protection apply to all public protests.

Legal position

Play media file

Police information on minimum distance and mask requirement during a protest against state corona protection measures in Berlin, August 1, 2020

In view of the increasing number of infections, the federal and state governments adopted joint protective measures against the pandemic, including a temporary "restriction of social contacts" on March 22, 2020: Public gatherings of more than two people were prohibited, a minimum distance of 1.50 meters in public space was required, Gastronomy and service businesses were largely closed. Some federal states also imposed curfews unless there was good reason. By the end of April, all federal states made it compulsory to wear mouth and nose protection (mask requirement) for public transport and shops. The implementation of the measures is the responsibility of the state authorities and local governments. These dealt with the right to demonstrate inconsistently across the country . This resulted in legal disputes over individual assembly bans.

The Cologne Administrative Court, for example, confirmed a municipal ban on gatherings and the rejection of urgent motions. The police broke up an unannounced demonstration on April 12, 2020 and reported 15 participants for violating the Assembly Act and the Corona Protection Ordinance. The Administrative Court of Hamburg allowed a demonstration for “distance instead of emergency” on the town hall market, registered on April 16, 2020, with conditions (masks and safety distances ). Following an objection by the Hamburg Senate , the Hamburg Higher Administrative Court prohibited the demonstration that was already underway because it was taking place within the ban mile around the town hall. Protests had previously been approved there when the Hamburg citizenship was not meeting in the town hall. The police cleared the town hall market and issued orders. On April 17, 2020, Munich's city ​​administration banned a seat demonstration for basic rights because of the exit restrictions. Following a complaint by the organizers, the Bavarian Administrative Court lifted the ban because the "circumstances relevant in the specific individual case" had to be taken into account. The city limited the number of participants to twelve people. The police had previously taken the applicant into custody after he had not followed a dismissal. According to him, he had been sitting alone on a park bench with no people around to infect. The interior ministry of Bavaria said after the Munich verdict, demonstrations remained in Bavaria because of the crisis Corona generally prohibited, but local authorities may allow exceptions and are likely to reject them only if requirements despite clear risk of infection.

The city of Giessen banned two demonstrations for basic rights registered for April 16 and 17, limited to 30 people. The Hessian Administrative Court rejected objections by the organizers . However, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned its ruling on April 15 and made it clear that blanket demonstration bans according to Art. 8 GG are unconstitutional and in the case were not covered by the Hessian Corona Protection Ordinance. The authorities should not generally prohibit gatherings of more than two people and should adequately examine all the circumstances of the individual case, including the guaranteed protective measures. That did not happen in this case. The city administration immediately allowed the meetings, but limited them to one hour and a maximum of 15 participants with face masks and a minimum distance.

Stuttgart's city ​​administration banned a demonstration for "ending the emergency regime" registered for April 18, 2020 for 50 people and, according to the organizer, justified this directly with the corona ordinance for Baden-Württemberg. After his urgent application, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a general ban on demonstrations in Stuttgart on April 17, 2020 and obliged the city to make a new decision on the registration. Otherwise, the plaintiff is allowed to hold the demonstration as announced. Despite the sharp rise in the number of infections, the city must "consider all possible protective measures in cooperation with the applicant, if possible" and always take into account the circumstances of the individual case. A constitutional complaint against a general ban would be "obviously justified according to the current status". The city then allowed the rally for 50 participants with minimum distances.

The Federal Constitutional Court rejected an application in an urgent procedure on May 16, 2020. The motion was essentially directed against the limit of 50 people for meetings in Brandenburg. The complainant had not shown before the administrative courts how hygiene could be guaranteed for up to 1000 people, especially since no mouth and nose coverings were required for meetings in Brandenburg.

Protests against state corona protection measures

Demonstration against the restriction of basic rights in Memmingen

From April 2020, rallies against government measures to contain the pandemic took place in other cities. Some of them exceeded the registered number or were unannounced, so that they were disbanded by the police. There were also counter-rallies that were directed “against conspiracy ideologues , right-wing esotericists and right-wing extremists ”. Nationwide at the end of May 2020 a significantly lower influx was reported.

Berlin

Reaction of the Volksbühne Berlin to the protests on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz , May 16, 2020

In March 2020, the theater dramaturge Anselm Lenz , the author Hendrik Sodenkamp and the activist Bathsheba N'Diaye founded the Communication Center for Democratic Resistance (KDW) in Berlin . The founders previously belonged to “ Haus Bartleby ”, an artist project founded in 2014 for criticism of capitalism . Since March 28, 2020, KDW has been organizing weekly "hygiene demonstrations" against encroachments on fundamental rights in the fight against pandemics under the motto "Not without us!" They take place every Saturday in front of the Volksbühne Berlin on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin-Mitte. The KDW newspaper distributed there named the address of the Volksbühne as the editorial and club headquarters. The Volksbühne denied any connection to KDW and examined legal steps against the use of the address. She also distanced herself from the demonstrations in front of her home. The "Bartleby House" also distanced itself from its former members.

The KDW founders deny the danger posed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus , interpret the corona measures as an “ emergency regime ” that “resistance people” should end, and refer to the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany . Lenz's call for the first hygiene demo explained the measures taken from “ panic attacks by over-aged elites ”, as a cover for a “capitalism crash” or as an “action to protect the climate”. The formerly free press was "brought into line" , the public discussion "abolished". Therefore should be demonstrated with respirators and minimum distance for the basic rights. The KDW website described the Bundestag's lockdown resolution as an “ enabling law ” for a “de facto dictatorship ” whose system was “at the end”. In the KDW newspaper, which has been distributed free of charge since April, Lenz claimed that the virus was “practically non-fatal, even for infected people”, and called for a new “economic constitution”. In the club's own YouTube channel “Hauptstadtstudio”, he demanded that politicians, business elites and representatives of the “synchronized press” responsible for the current situation be brought to justice.

For the hygiene demonstration, the right-wing extremist “Netzwerk Demokratie e. V. “, the former radio presenter Ken Jebsen on his channel KenFM and the founder of the Rubikon website , Jens Wernicke. Then Rubikon , the right-wing populist Epoch Times , Oliver Janich on Telegram and Martin Lejeune on the history revisionist blog "Die Rote Fahne" reported about it.

All hygiene demonstrations were previously unannounced or limited to a maximum of 20 participants. The number of participants grew from 40 (March 28) to 350 (April 11) and 500 (April 18) to more than 1000 (April 25) and fell to around 300 on May 1 and 2. At every rally so far, the police took personal details, issued references and initiated criminal investigations, for example for violations of the Infection Protection Act or resistance to law enforcement officers and an assault. Many demonstrators shouted the slogan “ We are the people ”. They hardly obeyed the calls to keep your distance and wear a face mask.

Right-wing extremist Nikolai Nerling , known as the “Volkslehrer”, was arrested on April 25 with around 100 participants . Anselm Lenz was arrested on May 1, 2020 after throwing newspapers at police officers. The assembly authority had previously warned him that because of his calls he had to be added to the maximum number of 20 participants. Because he did not withdraw the appeals and a ban on staying on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz was broken, the police arrested him. He called on the officials to refuse to obey orders, calling his arrest a crime and a “breach of the constitution” for which those responsible would be brought to justice. In his newspaper he wrote of a “de facto dictatorial hygiene regime” that terrified the population and locked them up at home, brought the big media outlets into line and instrumentalized state institutions against the people: “A dystopian digital and pharmaceutical company cartel urges to power. “You shouldn't leave the right-wing participants to protest. Due to the lack of opposition in the parliaments, it is necessary to fight for freedom rights outside of parliament.

According to Ruth Herzberg ( Der Freitag ), men and women of all ages, “ punks ”, “ hippies and philistines , black blocks and tattooed Lichtenberg hools ” as well as “confused, fearful people who need an outlet” were among the participants. It is "not everything right or left". However, the protests were increasingly supported by AfD , NPD , Identitarians and QAnon supporters or, according to Robert Kiesel (Tagesspiegel), “hijacked by right-wing populists and right-wing extremists”.

The applicants distanced themselves in a leaflet from anti-Semites and nationalist Holocaust deniers . The Holocaust denier Gerd Walther nonetheless blamed “the Jews ” and their alleged “takeover” of the parliaments for fighting global pandemics at the Berlin hygiene demos and welcomed the armed marches in front of state parliaments in the USA. Since May 2020, according to observations by the scene expert Olaf Sundermeyer, more and more Holocaust deniers, NPD activists and supporters of the right-wing extremist “wing” of the AfD have been taking part in the hygiene demonstrations, including Wilko Möller, member of parliament and numerous other AfD representatives from Brandenburg and Berlin.

Reich flags on the Corona demo.

According to Erik Peter , the documentary filmmaker Uli Gellermann, who works for Sputnik News , the video filmmaker Thomas Grabinger , who works on the Journalistenwatch blog , the cross-front activist Ken Jebsen, and the "people's teacher" Nikolai Nerling act as the publicists and media partners of the hygiene demonstrations as a link to the neo-Nazi and Holocaust denial scene. as well as the influencer and AfD member Carolin Matthie. Supporters are the singer Xavier Naidoo , the cook Attila Hildmann , the right-wing extremist Jürgen Elsässer and his magazine Compact . Except for Nerling, the organizers did not distinguish themselves from right-wing extremists. The Berlin interior administration sees the calls for the hygiene demo as "ideological points of contact for right-wing extremists, especially right-wing extremist Reich citizens ". The events had a “very heterogeneous attendance”, including “a few right-wing extremists, NPD members, conspiracy theorists, anti-vaccination opponents and esotericists ”.

On the sidelines of the Berlin hygiene demo on May 1, 2020, 15 people attacked a camera team from the ZDF- heute-show and injured five team members, four of them seriously. The state security took over the investigation on May 2, 2020. A connection between the perpetrators and the demonstrations is not known.

On May 9, 2020, Attila Hildmann called for a “freedom demo for the German people” in front of the Reichstag building . Previously, he had warned in net videos for weeks of an allegedly threatened dictatorship and an "enabling law" that Health Minister Jens Spahn wanted to introduce on May 15 on behalf of US billionaire Bill Gates and which would bring about " eugenics and genocide ". He had posed with firearms. On May 8, he threatened " Satanists and child-fuckers" like Bill Gates "should fear him" and showed himself with a pump gun at a rifle range, where he fired several shots. Elsewhere he announced that he would die “only with gun in hand and head high” in the “fight for our freedom”. The state wants to kill him because he is spreading the "truth". At the same time, he told the police that he was not carrying a gun, but was practicing at the shooting range for a gun ownership card . About 150 people responded to his call. The police arrested about 30 of them for identification purposes. In the afternoon, around 1200 people demonstrated unannounced on Alexanderplatz in Berlin against the infection protection measures. The mood was aggressive, bottles were thrown at police officers who used pepper spray against some demonstrators. There were further demonstrations on Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz at the Volksbühne. At the Pentecost weekend at the end of May, the corona-related protests subsided noticeably.

Demonstrators demonstratively did not wear masks on August 1.

On August 1st, a demonstration took place in Berlin under the motto “The end of the pandemic - Freedom Day”. Groups for whom "Corona is not an epidemic, but above all a global conspiracy " had called out, above all the Stuttgart movement lateral thinking 711 and anti-vaccination groups, but also right-wing extremist groups. During the demonstration, the infection protection requirements were deliberately disregarded, which led to the formal dissolution of the demonstration and later the subsequent rally, but this was not cleared. In addition, criminal charges were brought against the leader of the meeting. According to police, there were up to 20,000 participants. The organizers claimed that up to 1.3 million people attended. According to the media and politicians, however, the latter number given by the organizers was far too high. According to the ARD fact finder , for example, not that many people would fit into the rally area. Among other things, pictures of the crowds of the Love Parade 2001, which took place in Berlin, were shared on social networks to prove this number. Olaf Sundermeyer , right-wing extremism expert at the rbb , suspected intent behind the dissemination of such figures, as it was intended to convey the image of a mass movement. Protesters threatened and insulted the press. There were contradicting statements about police officers injured in this demonstration. In a tweet from the Berlin police that was picked up by various media, there was talk of 18 police officers injured. The police later published a report according to which a total of 45 officers had been injured in the various demonstrations carried out in Berlin that day, without it being possible to precisely assign them to the individual demonstrations. There were counter-demonstrations on the sidelines, including by anti-fascist groups.

Demonstrations on August 29, 2020

At the end of August 2020, the Berlin police banned several demonstrations registered for August 29. The decisive factor for this decision was the demonstration at the beginning of August because, according to Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel (SPD), the people who registered for these meetings "deliberately broke the rules that they had previously accepted in discussions with the police," especially compliance the 1.5 meter distance and wearing mouth and nose protection . The demonstrators are not interested in rejecting the corona measures , but their concerns are directed against "our free democratic basic order " and aim to " make our system contemptible under the guise of freedom of assembly and expression ". There have also been significant threats against his authority and the police. The organizers, the Stuttgart-based initiative lateral thinking 711 , announced an objection to the Administrative Court of Berlin , and if necessary also to the Federal Constitutional Court . The plan is to occupy Strasse des 17. Juni for two weeks. The ban was lifted by the Berlin Administrative Court on August 28, 2020. Among other things, the court stipulated that compliance with the minimum distance must be ensured by stewards and regular loudspeaker announcements. A mask requirement is not one of the requirements. The lifting of the ban was confirmed in the second instance by the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court . Jürgen Elsässer’s right-wing compact magazine advertised the protests; the new right publisher Götz Kubitschek , the head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement Martin Sellner , the AfD politicians Björn Höcke , Tino Chrupalla , Alice Weidel , Stephan Brandner , the ex-AfD man André Poggenburg and neo-Nazi organizations such as the NPD and the small party Der III . Weg called for participation in the events, as did singer Xavier Naidoo and TV chef Attila Hildmann . The "Berlin Alliance Against Right" announced counter rallies at Bebelplatz . The police in Berlin prematurely terminated the demonstration organized by lateral thinking 711 because of violations of the distance requirement and mask requirement . By then, the police estimated that 18,000 people had gathered in Berlin-Mitte, including families with children, right-wing extremists and conspiracy ideologues. While the demonstrations on Friedrichstrasse and on the eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate ended around noon, people gathered at the Victory Column for a rally in the early evening. According to police, around 38,000 people took part in the rally. According to the television station n-tv , the demonstrations were “significantly larger than expected”. The initiator Michael Ballweg called for the opening of the rally: "We demand the immediate lifting of the corona measures and the abdication of the federal government". According to Taz , the demonstrators formed “a colorful crowd”, namely “families, pensioners, esotericists , opponents of vaccinations [...] but also Reich citizens and right-wing extremists”. The right-wing extremist “Volkslehrer” Nikolai Nerling and neo-Nazis from the parties “ Dierechte ” and “ III. Away ".

On the afternoon of August 29, 2020, according to police, around 3,000 people gathered in front of the embassy of the Russian Federation. They called for a "peace treaty" for Germany, alluding to a conspiracy story by the Reich Citizens ' Movement , "that Germany is still occupied by the Allies and is not a sovereign state - and, moreover, does not even have a peace treaty". According to Interior Senator Geisel, there were “violent, violent clashes in the area of ​​the Russian embassy”, with “stones and bottles being thrown at the police”. Seven police officers were injured and around 200 people were arrested. Attila Hildmann was among those arrested. He was released on the evening of August 29th. The initiator Ballweg did not address the tumultuous scenes in his speech and said that “right-wing extremism and left-wing extremism [...] have no place in our movement”, but then spoke of “paid aggressors” who would be smuggled into the protest. According to Ballweg, the Basic Law has been hollowed out, so it is not the Bundestag but the sovereign who have to take power again - according to Taz, "that is, themselves" - and they want to "work on a new constitution".

On the evening of August 29, 2020, 300 to 400 people overcame the barriers in front of the Reichstag building and ran to the entrance portal, where they were stopped by three police officers, who were soon reinforced. Many of the demonstrators waved imperial flags . All parties represented in the Bundestag, with the exception of the AfD, were then shocked by the incident. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of the fact that "Reich flags and right-wing extremist rabble in front of the German Bundestag [...] are an unbearable attack on the heart of our democracy".

On August 30, the media reported that three Bavarian police officers had also appeared on the stage, one active officer, one retired and one currently being transferred to a criminal offense. All three had already been noticed as Corona activists, one is said to have spread theses that were affinity for the Reich citizen during protests. In Berlin, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, apparently no limits to extremism were exceeded in terms of content. As the Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann announced , they were private appearances, which were "checked very carefully" by the service supervisory authority, pointing out the duty of loyalty for retired officials as well as the "necessary moderation".

Hanover

In Hanover on the Maschsee , the eleven-member group “We wake up” has been organizing weekly protests against the corona measures since April 25, 2020, the content and timing of which are based on the nationwide call “Not without us”. An invitation video claims that a “ruling class” is using a virus “to panic whole strata of the population”, speaks of “high-tech dictatorship with total surveillance and control” and “microchips that are planted under the skin”. Germany has become a “surveillance state” overnight. The main speaker Carola Javid-Kisteln, a doctor and homeopath from Duderstadt , asked whether one would be “mouth dead and have nothing more to say” in the future “like the last time between 1933 and 1945”, comparing the corona rules with the Nazi state . You recognize a "demonic, diabolical plan" behind the actions of the federal government. Other speakers also compared the measures with the Nazi dictatorship and called for an uprising against it. Many claimed there was a threat of "compulsory vaccination" and collected signatures against it. The mask requirement is "oppression, that makes us slaves." To this end, they referred to reprimands when shopping without a protective mask. Many of the 350 or so participants upheld the Basic Law or signs demanding an obligation to resist or posters with the sentence “Don't give gates a chance”. One speaker claimed that Bill Gates donated millions to Der Spiegel magazine, buying its critical role from it. A speaker referred to police announcements, to wear masks and to keep the minimum distance to neighbors, on the newly founded initiative "Resistance2020". Up to 500 people took part in the “Demo for Basic Rights” on May 2nd.

Munich

On May 9, 2020 around 3,000 people demonstrated against the infection protection regulations on Marienplatz . Only 80 participants were registered. The participants stood tightly packed without observing minimum distances, mostly without a mouth and nose covering. The police unsuccessfully requested that minimum distances be observed, but allowed the demonstration to continue for reasons of proportionality and only cleared up a fringe event frequented by 25 right-wing extremists.

At a demonstration on May 16, 2020, the Munich police pursued a new strategy in response to the previous demonstration at Marienplatz. After the limit of 1,000 approved demonstrators was reached on Theresienwiese , the police cordoned them off. According to estimates by the Munich police, up to 2,500 other people were found outside the site. In contrast to the participants in the cordoned-off area, the minimum distances were often not observed. The approximately 1000 police officers on duty asked to leave the area outside the Theresienwiese and intercepted other people early on. 600 dismissals were issued, personal details were recorded 200 times and 20 reports of violations of the Infection Protection Act were issued. Several people were taken into temporary custody. According to police spokesman Marcus da Gloria Martins, incitement of the demonstrators, who were predominantly part of the bourgeois camp, was prevented and the distance rules could be observed.

Nuremberg

On May 9th, 2020 a peaceful demonstration "Reading for Democracy" took place in Nuremberg in the morning to uphold the Basic Law, which ended as planned after 45 minutes. Another demonstration followed at 2 p.m. and was attended by many more than the 50 registered people. It was directed against a "mouthguard obligation" and alleged "forced vaccination". Some participants claimed that Bill Gates wanted to rule their bodies and promoted the Resistance 2020 group . Several well-known right-wing extremists from the hooligan and yellow vests scene took part. Individual groups chanted "resistance" and "freedom". Many participants crowded and refused masks and minimum distance. Because of the crowd of around 2000 participants, the rally was not dissolved. Mayor Marcus König (CSU) described them as a similar mass crowd in Munich on the same day as a "source of infection" and announced that further demonstrations would only be allowed outside the city center. According to Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU), participants in Nuremberg asked passers-by to remove mouth and nose protection. He announced that such harassment and endangerment of others, intentional violations of the distance rules and the influence of right-wing extremists will be prevented in the future and that the police will strictly enforce the conditions.

Stuttgart and Ulm

Michael Ballweg, organizer of lateral thinking, at lateral thinking 731 (Ulm), 2020

In Stuttgart "711 lateral thinking" (telephone dialing code for Stuttgart) was a week demonstrated against the rules and Corona Fundamental Rights in the spring of 2020 under the name. Around 50 people came to the first demonstration on April 18, 2020 after the Federal Constitutional Court lifted the city ban. As a result of the influx at the following meetings, the participants could no longer keep the minimum distance of 1.50 meters from one another on Stuttgart's Schloßplatz . Therefore, the IT entrepreneur Michael Ballweg announced further demonstrations on the Cannstatter Wasen .

Ballweg calls for new elections to the Bundestag in October 2020. He stated that he does not tolerate any radical ideas from the left or right and that he advocates freedom of expression. Because of the allegedly distorted reporting by some media, journalists willing to talk should first give written assurance of his initiative that they will “report truthfully, impartially and completely” and, above all, not exercise “ censorship ”. On Twitter, Ballweg initially affirmed the German corona rules with a view to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy , but then adopted and disseminated empirically unfounded theses by Sucharit Bhakdi and numerous contributions from KenFM on the pandemic. On April 6th, he posted a comic picture by the artist Ben Garrison , popular in the Alt-Right initiative , depicting Bill Gates as Adolf Hitler with syringes in the shape of a swastika , and commented: "Very frightening what @BillGates has for ideas."

Bodo Schiffmann at lateral thinking 731 (Ulm), 2020

According to the organizers, up to 5,000 participants demonstrated on May 2, 2020 on the Cannstatter Wasen, 2,500 more than were registered. The demonstration was peaceful and without police intervention. The speakers were Ballweg and the lawyer Ralf Ludwig, co-founder of Resistance 2020 . He feared an "absolute health check" in which everyone should be vaccinated. For the next, also peaceful demonstration on the Cannstatter Wasen on May 9th, 5000 participants came, according to other information up to 10,000 participants. The announced keynote speaker was Ken Jebsen. In the Kursaal Bad Cannstatt around 200 people demonstrated at the counter rally “Solidarity. Liberty rights. Clear edge against the right ”.

On May 16, 2020, three men who wanted to take part in the demonstration by “lateral thinking 711” were injured by up to 40 black-clad and masked perpetrators on the Cannstatter Wasen. Two victims were admitted to the hospital. The Stuttgart public prosecutor's office is investigating a suspicion of an attempted homicide. The May 16 demonstration was attended by more than 5,000 people. About 200 participants took part in the demonstration on May 30th.

Heidelberg

At the beginning of April, the lawyer Beate Bahner appeared in Heidelberg as the spokesperson for protests. She described the corona protection measures as illegal "tyranny" and "the greatest legal scandal that the Federal Republic of Germany has ever experienced". She claimed that the Infection Protection Act only allowed measures against the sick, not against “83 million healthy people”. The Federal Constitutional Court rejected your urgent application to lift the protective measures for formal reasons. Then she announced a "Corona Resurrection Ordinance" to reopen all shops. She called the police on April 12th ( Easter Sunday ) because she felt threatened by passers-by on the street. The officers took her into custody for endangering others and themselves and took her to a Heidelberg psychiatric clinic, where a doctor decided to keep her temporarily. In a phone call published as a video, Bahner portrayed her treatment as arbitrarily eliminating a political opponent, claiming that police officers brutally mistreated her while she was still in the clinic and that clinic staff had not helped her. However, she did not file a criminal complaint. She was released from the clinic on April 14th. On April 15, the Heidelberg public prosecutor summoned her for questioning because of her calls for unannounced protests. Her supporters, including the vaccine opponent Hans Tolzin and the AfD member of the state parliament Stefan Räpple , demonstrated unannounced on April 15 in front of the police building for them and against the protective measures. The police tolerated the rally despite the minimum distances no longer being observed in the long term. Bahner, outwardly unharmed, said sarcastically that one should not believe the reports of their abuse from the “right-wing lying press”; she actually fell off her bike while drunk. The appearance split their followers; some saw it as a "staging" and did not want to support Bahner any further. The Heidelberg police are investigating Bahner's supporters for violating the conditions.

On Saturday, April 18, there was a regular, registered demonstration at Heidelberg University Square.

More protests

Protest against corona restrictions in Frankfurt am Main , May 16, 2020

From April 2020 rallies against the state pandemic were held in many other cities. Some of them exceeded the registered or permitted number of people or were unannounced, so that they were disbanded by the police. There have been rallies with a hundred and more people in the following places:

date	place	Attendees; possibly ban
April 25	Kempten	~ 320
1st of May	Aue	210
1st of May	Zwickau	> 100
2.May	Erfurt	200
2.May	Gera	300
2.May	Krumbach	500
2.May	Memmingen	150 (despite cancellation)
May 9	Gera	750
May 16	Frankfurt am Main	1500, of which counter-demonstrators were in the majority
May 16	Schwerin	650
May 16	Passau	275

Hundreds of people took part in a demonstration by opponents of the Corona measures on May 16, 2020 on the Roßmarkt in Frankfurt am Main . A participant in the rally showed the Nazi salute . The demonstration was accompanied by counter-protests in which more than 1000 people took part. Anti-fascist groups disrupted the demonstration on the Rossmarkt. A man tried to push a speaker off the Gutenberg memorial . The megaphone was snatched from a former Pegida activist who also wanted to give a speech.

Right-wing organizers

The right-wing extremist group Pro Chemnitz registered a demonstration for 500 people in Chemnitz for April 20, 2020 . The city administration forbade it, but after an urgent application by the organizers, the administrative court in Chemnitz allowed it with strict conditions for 15 people. On Karl Marx Monument gathered, police said up to 300 followers, some of which have not been removed despite police request. The police reported 40 violations of the Saxon corona protection ordinance as well as resistance against law enforcement officers, attempted dangerous bodily harm and the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations . The Saxon Higher Administrative Court finally banned a demonstration by Pro Chemnitz that was registered for April 24, 2020. The meeting was dissolved.

Also Pegida in Dresden wanted to demonstrate on 20 April. The municipal public order office allowed a rally for 80 people, but following public criticism, the city administration limited the number of participants to 15 people in accordance with the ruling of the Chemnitz Administrative Court. Thirty counter-demonstrators gathered at a greater distance. A rally allowed for 50 participants on April 27, Pegida founder Lutz Bachmann canceled , demanded civil disobedience via livestream and agitated against the corona restrictions.

On April 22, 2020, AfD district councilor Steffen Janich invited to a “walk for our fundamental rights” in Pirna via Facebook , but did not register it and denied that it should be a meeting. The right-wing extremist "wavelength" movement is said to have mobilized for this in the network. According to the police, around 180 people gathered at the town hall, including well-known entrepreneurs, craftsmen, heads from the right-wing scene and conspiracy theorists , according to Domokos Szabó ( Sächsische Zeitung ). They held up signs that said “Corona madness” and “vaccine slaves”, insulted the police officers present as “ Merkel thugs” or “wankers” and compared them to the “ police in the GDR and in the Weimar region Republic ". According to witnesses, many did not wear masks and did not keep their distance. The police asked Janich to enforce the conditions and threatened to otherwise dissolve the meeting. Many participants refused to put on mouth guards. Shortly afterwards Janich ended the meeting. He is a police officer in Dresden and founder of the first AfD district association in Saxony. His police department opened an investigation against him. On April 29, 2020, city councils from various parties and restaurateurs in Pirna called for another "walk" against the corona measures. 350 participants came. The police cleared the marketplace after 15 minutes and started investigations into violations of the Saxon Corona Protection Ordinance. On May 13th, around 200 people met at the market in Pirna following calls for a “walk” online. When the police wanted to break up the meeting, according to police, 30 "violent" officers attacked the officers and injured one of them. Eight criminal proceedings, including those for breach of the peace , were initiated.

After the “ wing ” of the AfD had formally dissolved on April 30, 2020, its leading representatives Andreas Kalbitz and Hans-Christoph Berndt organized a rally “Democracy instead of Corona madness” on May 6, 2020 in Cottbus their initiative Zukunft Heimat a “wake-up call for civil rights”. Many other right-wing extremist AfD members and actors of the New Right are also relying on the corona crisis and trying to dominate the protests against state measures in other cities. On May 1st in Aue NPD city councilor Stefan Hartung organized a rally. It was approved for 30 people, but 180 other people wanted to do it. They tried to break through the police barriers, shouted “Resistance”, “Take off masks” and “We are the people” and in many cases did not keep the minimum distances despite police requests. Individuals attacked officials. The police determined the identity of 91 people and reported them for violating the Saxon Corona Protection Ordinance. On May 1st in Plauen, supporters of the extreme right-wing extremist party The III. Away , in Zwickau the right-wing “Voters Initiative Future Zwickau”. Instead of the 25 approved participants, more than 100 came, including opponents. The AfD organized further rallies in Saxony. According to experts, right-wing extremists also tried to instrumentalize the corona protests in Erfurt and Gera.

In Freiburg im Breisgau on May 2, 2020, around 600 to 800 participants demonstrated against a gathering organized by the Freiburg district association of the AfD with the motto “Be vigilant! Demo for Life ”, attended by about 60 people. The applicable distance rules could not be observed at the counter-demonstration. The Bundestag member Tobias Pflüger (Die Linke) criticized that the police had “made far too little space available for the demonstrators”.

The demonstration in Gera on May 9th was announced by entrepreneur Peter Schmidt, a member of the CDU Economic Council , as a “walk”, analogous to Pegida. With the mobilization he was helped by friends of the right-wing extremists from Gera. At the demonstration, a co-organizer showed a poster with a Star of David that relativized the Holocaust . In addition to Schmidt, the main speaker was Thuringia's FDP chairman Thomas Kemmerich , who was elected Prime Minister for one day in February 2020 with AfD votes. He demonstrated together with right-wing populists, corona deniers and conspiracy ideologues, without a mask and minimum distance, although there are particularly many COVID-19 cases in the Greiz district. In response to strong criticism, including from the FDP, he initially defended his appearance and then apologized for it: he did not notice the audience during the demonstration. Most of the participants disregarded distance rules and did not wear a face mask.

Classifications

Protest car warns of the introduction of mandatory vaccinations , Berlin on August 1, 2020

Erik Peter ( taz ) described the participants as a “scene of conspiracy theorists” with “crude theories about the causes of the corona pandemic.” They combine the feeling of being lied to by the government and the media. They denied the danger of the virus, blamed Bill Gates in part for it, fueled fear of forced vaccinations, saw themselves as enlighteners, lateral thinkers or “the people” and took criticism of conspiracy myths as evidence of the “undemocratic mainstream”. Many also took part in the vigil for peace in 2014, while others had only joined the corona crisis. Julius Betschka and Christoph Kluge ( Der Tagesspiegel ) describe the hygiene demonstrations as a "cross-front demonstration" "from far left to right-wing extremist". According to Alex Rühle ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ), the theses of the participants reveal “what crisis democratic societies are in”.

The rallies were classified as an "obvious risk of infection" not because of the number of participants, but because of the open rejection and disregard of the corona rules despite easing decisions. The grouping of "apparently completely normal citizens" with extremists, conspiracy theorists, Reich citizens, esotericists and anti-vaccination opponents is also seen as a danger. Despite the differentiation of the organizers from “right-wing nuts”, participants repeatedly played down the Nazi crimes by comparing the Holocaust or suspected a Jewish world conspiracy behind the corona crisis. Right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists increasingly dominated the protests, demonized the media, portrayed politicians as puppets, rejected science and influenced countless followers through their channels. Many German domestic politicians also warned against this development. Contrary to the claim of the corona protests to represent the people, a large majority of the population (81% on May 10th) affirms the federal government's crisis management according to current surveys.

Experts like Sandro Witt (mobile advice against right-wing extremism in Thuringia; MOBIT) and Matthias Quent (Institute for Democracy and Civil Society; IDZ in Jena ) attribute the protests to the massive psychological, social and economic consequences of the pandemic. Anti-democratic and right-wing extremists tried to co-ordinate the protests for their own purposes, to turn people against one another, against science and against political leaders, for example by linking migration and hostility towards Muslims with the pandemic or by presenting the crisis as a plot. In doing so, they increased the uncertainty of many people. Many activists who claim to be neither right nor left abused “the dissatisfaction and naivety of fellow travelers and ultimately harm legitimate, democratic concerns such as the protection of basic rights”, encouraged right-wing extremism and absurd conspiracy, endangered risk groups, and damaged democracy and social cohesion .

According to Tilman Steffen ( Die Zeit ), the protesters, "Resistance2020" and restaurateurs are calling for a "right to infection". The right of resistance claimed is a form of vigilante justice . The protest is often not directed against specific restrictions, but against the way in which the government and parliament take and enforce decisions. Behind this, East German initiators have developed a distrust of politicians and the media that has been developing since the GDR era, which they transfer directly to an "opinion cartel of the established parties" in the Federal Republic. They took over the new right claim of a “terror of opinion” and, like common populism, faked simple solutions to complex problems. Popular is the narrative that the Robert Koch Institute first advised against protective masks and that the federal government had known the risk of a virus pandemic since 2012, but had not taken precautions. Any restriction of fundamental rights is rejected, although the balancing of fundamental rights against one another, such as freedom and physical integrity, is normal political and legal practice. Ralf Ludwig (Resistance 2020) demands everyone's right to be able to infect themselves in a self-determined manner, but does not mention that anyone infected can infect others, i.e. endanger them. Prevention to protect life is therefore mocked as a "dictatorship". As in the case of "Merkel-must-go" demonstrations, Pegida and AfD react to Angela Merkel's statements. In doing so, the protesters would accept that their external image would be like that of right-wing populists and attract the same xenophobes. Therefore, the group "Resistance 2020" aroused the interest of the AfD, which in turn is currently mobilizing against the lockdown.

The psychologist Pia Lamberty warned with a view to appeals like that of Attila Hildmann that especially stories of a dictatorship, which should be established on a "day X", can mobilize people to violence. According to studies, belief in conspiracies is associated with a "stronger affinity for violence and a stronger legitimation of violence" and less use of democratic influence. The current protests could potentially lead to attacks.

Political scientist Tom Mannewitz saw parallels with the Pegida movement. Here, too, "concerned citizens" initially came together to demonstrate. Over time, the group of demonstrators then became smaller, more homogeneous and politically more radical.

Demonstration participants with flags in black, white and red , Berlin on August 1, 2020

Brandenburg's constitution protection chief Jörg Müller warned that the protests were “a dangerous mixture” of conspiracy theorists, extremists, Reich citizens, preppers , AfD supporters and ordinary citizens. The NPD and the III. Weg would have first discovered the topic for themselves and linked it with conspiracy theories. To call the infection protection "Enabling Act" is "historically forgotten, stupid and a border crossing" because the historical Enabling Act led to the World War and the Holocaust. Rally names like "Covid-1984" claimed that they were in an Orwellian surveillance system. After Pegida waned, the same scene in eastern German cities like Cottbus sensed a new opportunity due to the corona crisis. A “toxic” network of Pegida, Identitarians, AfD, the new right-wing Institute for State Policy and the right-wing extremist associations “Zukunft Heimat” and One Percent for Our Country have long formed there. The AfD advertise and organize the rallies in some places. Nationwide, she does not have a clear position on this, but the right-wing extremist "wing" only appear to have dissolved and continue to dominate the AfD. The President of the Thuringian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Stephan J. Kramer , also said that “clearly more concrete approaches for a national and ethnic revolution are recognizable”. Right-wing extremist parties like the NPD, “ The Third Way ” and “ The Right ” tried to gain broader links with society under the pretext of the protests. Kramer spoke of a grassroots movement ; a "kind of anti-corona measures collection movement" is "fed by conspiracy theorists, right-wing extremists".

The FAZ pointed out that as of May 16, 2020 right-wing extremist parties such as the NPD , Der III. Weg and The rights to participate in the protests. The Federal Criminal Police Office also stated that there were indications that right-wing extremists wanted to take advantage of the protests and tried to “exploit the current situation for their propaganda purposes”.

The media scientist Bernhard Pörksen warned journalists against devaluing the corona protests across the board and dismissing the participants as “weirdos” and “hysterics”. The majority ratios are different, the communication climate should not be determined by the loud and angry. In view of the “wave of polarization”, a “respectful confrontation” and the “struggle for the better argument” are necessary. Nonetheless, conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites have to be called that and, especially in the case of anti-Semitic incitement, should be sharply opposed. Legal scholar Oliver Lepsius argued similarly . He saw a threat to fundamental rights as a given, but also said that freedom of expression was given at all times. Legal violations by individual participants may not be used as an opportunity to restrict the freedom of assembly again.

The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang , also said that there is a risk that "right-wing extremists will put themselves at the forefront of the Corona demonstrations with their images of enemies and goals that destroy the state, which are currently led by the majority of citizens who are loyal to the constitution". However, extremists would “use the current situation just as they did in the so-called refugee crisis”. What began on the Internet with propaganda, conspiracy theories and misinformation is now being carried into the real world.

A survey commissioned by the ARD magazine Kontraste at Infratest dimap showed that among 500 respondents, 17 percent considered the corona crisis to be a pretext for politics to permanently restrict civil liberties. 38 percent said that among their relatives, friends or acquaintances there were at least some who believed that politicians were using the coronavirus as a pretext to restrict freedom rights. Two thirds of the respondents said that they saw conspiracy myths as a growing threat to democracy.

Josef Schuster , the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany , expressed his concern about the demonstrations, because Corona "clearly serves as a catalyst for conspiracy myths and also for anti-Semitism ". Every participant in such a demonstration has to look at "who he is in common with" and "ultimately has to be responsible for it". He described comparisons by demonstrators as "unspeakable"; the current situation is the same as that of the Jews during the Nazi era. Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, no citizen, according to Schuster, has experienced the persecution that Jews had experienced from 1933 up to their extermination .

After the Berlin demonstration on August 29, 2020, the journalist and publicist said Heribert Prantl , that "abstruse" as the demand for an immediate resignation of the government, although "bear" must, however, the limits of the tolerable went where violence and sedition were beginning . The calculation of the right-wing extremist groups to mix with the sympathizers of the "lateral thinkers" must be thwarted. Those who want to remain serious about their criticism should not accept their presence with indifference and approval. According to Prantl, there is a twofold imperative to keep a distance: keeping a distance from one another, but above all from right-wing extremists.

Nationwide protests by entrepreneurs

Restaurateurs

Protest "Empty chairs" in Detmold

With the “Empty chairs” campaign on April 24, 2020, restaurateurs who had to close their restaurants nationwide due to the infection protection measures adopted, drew attention to their plight during the Corona crisis. According to the Süddeutscher Zeitung, the initiative called for “an increase in short-time allowance to 90 percent from the start, a permanent reduction in the VAT rate to seven percent, more subsidies and a clear exit strategy”. Nationwide restaurateurs from almost 80 cities took part in the protest. On May 8, 2020, the “Empty chairs” campaign called for nationwide protests under the motto “We're giving up the spoon!”. In Leipzig, 2,500 chairs were set up on Augustusplatz and silver spoons were thrown into barrels and containers. According to co-initiator Kathleen Parma, the restaurateurs “don't want to spoon out the soup alone”. Due to the regulations, they can “serve fewer customers” even after the restaurants have reopened. “We still lack the tourists. The reduction in VAT on food to seven percent is completely schizophrenic because taxation will continue until July 1st, ”said Parma.

Tourism industry

Owners of travel agencies , tour operators , freelance tour guides and bus companies gathered in over 40 cities nationwide on April 29, 2020. A gradual lifting of travel restrictions and financial emergency aid were called for. If there is a demonstrable drop in sales of more than 50 percent, a basic income of 1000 euros should be paid out, according to one of the demands of the travel industry. The demonstrators expressed their protest by setting up suitcases, deckchairs and parasols. The number of participants in the registered demonstrations was limited to 15 to 50.

Event industry

Red illuminated New Town Hall in Hanover during the Night of Light

→ Main article : Night of Light

On June 22, 2020, the event industry carried out the “ Night of Light ” campaign in numerous cities in Germany , during which important buildings were illuminated with red light for three hours at night. This was to draw attention to the financial distress of the event industry due to the economic crisis in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the organizers, 8,000 companies such as locations, organizers, event agencies, exhibition companies, stand builders, caterers, non-food caterers, technology service providers, decoration companies and sole proprietorships participated. 9000 buildings were illuminated. The Association for Media and Event Technology (VPLT) announced that since March 10, 2020, the orders for lighting technicians, sound engineers and stage builders have almost completely collapsed. The association put the annual turnover of the event industry in Germany at 130 billion euros. For example, the branch in Lower Saxony is one of the ten most important employers in the state. The public response to the campaign was low to divided, because on the one hand there were hardly any people around at the chosen time to be able to notice the action, and on the other hand because red lighting ( red light district ) traditionally has negative connotations.

More protests

refugees

Protest of the initiative #LeaveNoOneBehind with shoes in Berlin

Bicycle protest of the #LeaveNoOneBehind initiative in Berlin

During the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrations against the conditions in refugee camps and shelters and for the reception of refugees took place in several cities .

On March 28th in Berlin, 200 people protested, among other things, against the conditions in the Greek refugee camps, against rent increases and, with the words “clapping doesn't fill you up”, against the “poor pay of medical and nursing staff”. The police broke up the rally and arrested several people.

A demonstration in Frankfurt am Main on April 5 with 400 participants on the occasion of a call from the pier was broken up despite the maintenance of the safety distance of 2.50 meters between the participants. As part of the “We leave traces - #LeaveNoOneBehind” campaign, shoes were parked in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on the same day in a campaign that was prohibited by the police. They were supposed to symbolize protesters who were not allowed to meet for joint actions, as well as refugees who were waiting for rescue in the refugee camps. The protest was broken up under police scrutiny from some demonstrators.

In Hamburg on April 7th, 2020 between 150 and 200 people demonstrated by bike without a permit, according to Welt, to “draw attention to the situation of refugees in the Greek camps”. The protest, which came from the initiative #LeaveNoOneBehind , was entitled “Driving around for freedom of assembly”. The Hamburg police imposed 21 fines of € 150 each. Previously, the Hamburg Administrative Court had rejected a request for an exemption from #LeaveNoOneBehind for a meeting of 30 to 50 participants. On April 18, 2020, an approved protest by the #LeaveNoOneBehind initiative took place. About 60 people gathered at the corner points of the Inner Alster and campaigned for sea rescue and the reception of refugees in Hamburg. An originally planned human chain with 450 people was not approved by the police. One weekend later on April 26th - organized by Seebrücke - a four-kilometer-long vigil chain from the fish auction hall in Altona to the Elbphilharmonie with around 500 participants was approved . On April 25, a demonstration with around 50 people against the current refugee policy of the EU was held at the Gänsemarkt .

On the Easter weekend, 30 to 40 people demonstrated in Hanover, among other things against the European refugee policy. Some participants resisted when the police tried to break up the meeting due to the ban. There were reports from the police. In Potsdam, 200 people protested under the motto “#WirHabenPlatz” for the acceptance of refugees. People stood in line with signs in front of a bakery. The Brandenburg Police recorded personal details and initiated proceedings for administrative offenses. She assessed the action as a gathering that was not allowed under the Brandenburg containment ordinance. There is a “local” and “thematic connection”, explained the spokesman for the Brandenburg Police, which means that those present become “participants in the assembly”, “who have expressed their opinion with posters on a common topic”. Compliance with the distance rules is not relevant here.

In downtown Jena on April 21, 2020, the police broke up a demonstration for the admission of refugees with 30 participants, which was held in compliance with the safety distance and with face masks. The meeting was previously banned by the city of Jena with reference to the nationwide anti-corona measures applicable at the time. Only from April 23, 2020, meetings with up to 50 people in the open air in Thuringia were allowed again.

Also under the motto #LeaveNoOneBehind , several critical mass bike tours took place on April 26, 2020 without registration in Berlin . Most of the groups of 20 people were stopped by the police. The personal details of 222 people were recorded.

A demonstration of 50 refugees in front of their own collective accommodation in Bremen was broken up on March 28, 2020 due to insufficient safety distance, although Bremen, in contrast to other federal states, expressly allows assemblies in accordance with Article 8 of the Basic Law in the Corona Ordinance. After 33 new infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus became known on April 16, 2020 in the refugee accommodation in the Vegesack district , four blocks with 50 people each protested on the following day with permission for the accommodation to be closed and the refugees to be relocated. A petition with 4,000 signatures was also handed over to Bremen's Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte (SPD).

May 1st 2020

May 1st in Kreuzberg 2020

On May Day a number of approved and unapproved demonstrations were held nationwide.

In Berlin, 27 demonstrations with a maximum of 20 people were approved, which took place without incident. In Kreuzberg of Berlin's senator gathered, according to Andreas Geisel (SPD) "several thousand people" without permission. They followed a call by the Revolutionary May Day Initiative . The police, which had 5,000 officers on duty, prevented demonstration marches with roadblocks . There was scuffle between the police and the demonstrators. Pyrotechnic objects were ignited and bottles and stones were used as projectiles. Officials were injured. According to the Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik , there were 50 arrests and 100 restrictions on freedom. Six people were brought before the judge. Those gathered, who did not all wear a mask and did not keep the required minimum distance, “made a clear statement against the protection against infection, against the protection of others” and “acted irresponsibly”, so Slowik. Senator for the Interior Geisel spoke of a "concentrated irrationality".

Out of 47 registered demonstrations in Hamburg, 37 with a maximum of 25 participants were allowed. One of the approved demonstrations was broken up by the organizers after addressing the police, as up to 90 participants had gathered. An unauthorized demonstration with 350 participants from the left spectrum was broken up on the Reeperbahn . In the Schanzenviertel , the police broke up an illegal meeting using a water cannon. According to the police, the officers had previously been pelted with objects. Garbage cans were dragged onto the street and pyrotechnic objects were used.

The public order office in Leipzig agreed to a meeting with more than 200 people in the Connewitz district . The demonstrators, masked with face masks, responded to a call for the initiative “# Not on our back”. The Saxon state parliament member and demonstration organizer Juliane Nagel (Die Linke) welcomed the spontaneous demonstration in Leipzig. She thinks it is "great that even in these times people do not let their right to freedom of assembly be taken away". Around 200 people also took part in another meeting in the southern suburb of Leipzig .

The implementation of a demonstration by left trade unionists in Munich was approved after a successful lawsuit before the Bavarian Administrative Court. However, 350 people attended the meeting approved for 50 people. The police did not intervene. Many of the demonstrators wore face shields and mostly adhered to the distance regulations. In Nuremberg, too, up to 300 people marched through the streets in smaller groups.

Numerous demonstrations by trade union and left-wing groups also took place in Stuttgart. An alliance of 16 organizations and groups called for a gathering that was attended by 200 to 300 people. They stood up “for the rights of workers and employees, especially during the corona crisis”. In order to maintain minimum distances, markings were made for the rally on the market square . During the march that followed, some Bengali fires were lit.

Instead of the traditional May 1st demos and rallies by the German Trade Union Federation , a three-hour live stream was broadcast under the motto and hashtag #SolidarischNichtAlleine , moderated by Katrin Bauerfeind and Timm Steinborn . There was live music from MIA. , Konstantin Wecker , Jocelyn B. Smith , Sarah Lesch , Heinz Rudolf Kunze , Thorsten Stelzner , Dota , Ute Lemper and Felix Räuber . There was also an interview with Friederike Kempter as well as speeches and videos from the various local and regional associations of the DGB. In addition, a symbolic meeting took place in front of the Brandenburg Gate , at which DGB representatives held a large banner with the slogan. In addition, teams of two were out and about in Berlin, spraying the slogan and other motifs with chalk . In Hamburg, too, 25 union representatives held a banner at the fish market . In addition, there was a live stream on the DGB Hamburg website with an interview with DGB Hamburg chairwoman Katja Karger , a report from the “Mensch vor Marge” campaign of the food-pleasure-restaurants union and a speech by the DGB youth. In terms of subject matter , the unions called for a further increase in short-time allowance (see Economic Crisis 2020, section labor market on the numbers of those affected by short-time work) and more support for parents and single parents in the home office . In addition, better health and occupational safety for employees in systemically important occupations was called for.

It was the first time in the more than 70-year history of the DGB that there was no big May Day rally on the streets.

Easter marches and peace protests

The Easter marches in their previous form were largely canceled in 2020. However, the protest took place “in the living room” and on the Internet, with people holding messages from windows and balconies and sharing them on social networks . Some organizers published speeches and music on the Internet. According to the network Friedenskooperative , which according to the taz acts as the “main coordination point for Easter marches in Germany”, over 2000 people uploaded photos to fill in a virtual peace sign . A propeller plane entered Baden-Württemberg with the words “Disarmament now! Easter March 2020 "labeled banner and flew over the state. A demonstration with 40 participants took place in Schwerin on Easter Monday under the motto "71 years of the Basic Law, 60 years of Easter marches, 2 months of Corona". The Schwerin administrative court lifted a ban imposed by the mayor of Schwerin under certain conditions. The number of participants was limited, a safety distance of two meters from one another and ten meters from people passing by had to be observed and the names and addresses of the participants had to be recorded by the chairman of the meeting. In Gronau (North Rhine-Westphalia, 50 participants) and in Jagel (Schleswig-Holstein, 20 participants), peace demonstrations took place under strict conditions, during which the participants were prohibited from marching together.

Fridays for Future

Protest by Fridays for Future in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin

The climate protection movement Fridays for Future organized an "online demonstration" lasting several hours on April 24, 2020, which could be seen on several social networks and reached 20,000 simultaneous viewers at peak times. Among other things, she demonstrated against neglecting the climate crisis and against reintroducing the scrapping bonus in Germany. Contributions by the singers Bosse , Clueso and Lena Meyer-Landrut were shown in the live stream. Thousands of banners and signs from 70 local groups of the movement were placed in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin. Small public actions were held in other cities.

Housing Action Day

On March 28, 2020, protesters in Berlin showed their presence without taking to the streets. On the occasion of Housing Action Day , they protested with posters on house facades and with minute-long noise “against continuing displacement and for the expropriation of large real estate groups”. The initiative “expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co” symbolized the actually planned demonstration with shoes and distributed pictures of it in social networks. In order to protect the homeless - whose growing number is seen as a symptom of the housing policy that is perceived as wrong - from the virus, Frieder Krauss from the Berlin homeless service called for the confiscation of hotels during the corona pandemic.

Against nuclear waste shipments

In North Rhine-Westphalia , on the other hand, two demonstrations against the transport of nuclear waste from the Gronau uranium enrichment plant in Münster and Gronau were registered for Monday, April 6, 2020. a. by the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection , and were allowed to be carried out subject to conditions - wearing a face mask and 1.50 meters between the participants. Approval for a second demonstration with a maximum of 35 participants on April 27 was obtained after a ban by the city of Münster before the administrative court.

Day of care

On May 12, International Day of Nursing , there were nationwide protests by workers in the care professions. The protests took place in front of care facilities and political institutions. Around 35 people also demonstrated in front of the German Ministry of Health . Most of the actions were registered and took place in accordance with hygiene regulations. The protesters called for better working conditions and fairer pay. The protests were supported by the Ver.di trade union , the Evangelical Church in Germany , the Diakonie and the social association VdK .

Protests after the death of George Floyd

→ Main article : Protests following the death of George Floyd

Black Lives Matter rally on Alexanderplatz , June 6, 2020

On the first weekend in June 2020, tens of thousands of people gathered on the streets due to the violent death of African American George Floyd . The largest demonstrations of this kind took place in Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. The demonstration participants were huddled together, some did not wear mouth and nose protection. Karl Lauterbach (SPD) criticized the loud speaking choirs, whereby "large amounts of aerosols were distributed in a small space". "For the fight against the virus, it would be better to demonstrate with only posters and banners," said Lauterbach. Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) also expressed concern about the "dense crowd in the middle of the pandemic".

Others

Planned and from a hygienic point of view not objectionable demonstrations in the first week of April in Hamburg for the homeless and in Hanover against the total ban on gatherings were banned by the competent administrative courts in an urgent procedure.

In Potsdam, around 60 people protested in the Babelsberg Park on April 21, 2020 at an unregistered demonstration against the downsizing of the Babelsberg lido. According to Erik Wenk ( Potsdam's Latest News ), "the majority of the protesters [...] had gathered peacefully and as far as possible at the entrance to the lido, keeping a safe distance." The police took 32 personal details of those present and "noted several reports for violating the Infection Protection Act". A demonstration held at the same time in the Babelsberg Park with 20 people was approved subject to conditions.

See also

• Anti-Mask League of San Francisco

Web links

Commons : Protests during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Antisemitism eV (JFDA): Documentation and analysis of the “ Hygiene Demo ” on April 18, 2020.
• Corona demonstrations: positions and protagonists (Deutschlandfunk, May 18, 2020)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Show after a demonstration that has not been registered. Police Cologne, April 12, 2020; Police break up unannounced demonstration at Aachener Weiher. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, April 12, 2020
2. ↑ Sarah Zaheer: Fussy demonstration ban: Corona and freedom of expression. taz, April 17, 2020
3. ↑ Lorenz Storch: Administrative Court allows demonstration for basic rights. Bayerischer Rundfunk , April 17, 2020
4. ^ Federal Constitutional Court: Decision of the 1st Chamber of the First Senate of April 15, 2020, Az. 1 BvR 828/20. Application for the issuance of an interim order against a ban on assembly partially successful. Retrieved May 25, 2020 . 
5. ^ Klaus Hempel: Federal Constitutional Court: No general ban on demonstrations. Tagesschau.de, April 16, 2020
6. ↑ Federal Constitutional Court: Decision of the 1st Chamber of the First Senate of April 17, 2020, Az. 1 BvQ 37/20. Successful application for the issuance of an interim order against a ban on assembly. Retrieved May 25, 2020 . 
7. ↑ Against Corona restrictions: Federal Constitutional Court overturns demo ban in Stuttgart. dpa / Stuttgarter Zeitung, April 18, 2020
8. ↑ Constitutional Court approves demonstration against corona restrictions. Die Zeit , April 18, 2020
9. ↑ BVerfG, decision of May 16, 2020, Az. 1 BvQ 55/20
10. ↑ Corona demos and counter-protest ; FAZ.net of May 22, 2020; accessed on May 31, 2020
11. ↑ Protests against corona restrictions are less popular ; Spiegel.de from May 30, 2020; accessed on May 30, 2020
12. ↑ Interest in corona demonstrations is waning ; Zeit.de of May 30, 2020; accessed on May 30, 2020
13. ↑ ^{a b} Julius Betschka: Left counter-protest "hygiene demonstration" in Berlin. Coronavirus and conspiracy theories. Der Tagesspiegel, April 24, 2020, accessed on April 30, 2020 . 
14. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Julius Betschka and Christoph Kluge: That is behind the cross-front demonstration in Berlin. Criticism of Corona measures. Der Tagesspiegel , April 18, 2020, accessed on April 19, 2020 . 
15. ↑ ^{a b c} Erik Peter: Corona and conspiracy theorists: With the Basic Law against the mind. taz, March 31, 2020
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} Erik Peter: Heads of the Corona relativizers: Alu with civil rights facade. taz, May 7, 2020
17. ↑ ^{a b} Violations of the Infection Protection Act - daily review of the police control measures. In: berlin.de. March 14, 2020, accessed March 31, 2020 . 
18. ↑ ^{a b} Protest against the ban on assemblies - police dissolve unannounced demo in Berlin-Mitte , rbb24 from April 11, 2020
19. ↑ Over 100 arrests at a Berlin demonstration against Corona measures. Welt.de, April 26, 2020, accessed on April 27, 2020 . 
20. ↑ ^{a b c} Thousands of people move close together through Kreuzberg. May 1st in Berlin. rbb24.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
21. ↑ Again hundreds of participants in the “Hygiene Demo”. Protest in front of the Volksbühne. rbb24.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 3, 2020 . 
22. ↑ Police break up unauthorized demonstration in Mitte. Around 260 emergency services on site. rbb24.de, April 19, 2020, accessed April 20, 2020 . 
23. ↑ ^{a b} Erik Peter: Corona conspirators demonstrate: Brown chain of infection. In: taz.de . April 12, 2020, accessed April 13, 2020 . 
24. ↑ ^{a b} Ruth Herzberg: Please stay sick! Friday , April 27, 2020, accessed on April 28, 2020 . 
25. ↑ ^{a b c} Corona protests in front of the Volksbühne: AfD “wing” is involved in “hygiene demos”. rbb, May 5, 2020
26. ↑ Robert Kiesel: Will Berlin become the center of right-wing corona protests? “Hygiene demo” in front of the Volksbühne. Der Tagesspiegel, April 26, 2020, accessed on April 28, 2020 . 
27. ↑ Andrej Reisin, Martin Schneider: “Hygiene Demo” in Berlin: Jews allegedly to blame for Corona. NDR, May 6, 2020
28. ↑ World: "Today Show" camera team attacked - Several injured - World. In: merkur.de. May 1, 2020, accessed May 1, 2020 . 
29. ^ State security investigates the attack on the ZDF camera team in Berlin. Shooting for "heute-show". faz.net , May 2, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 . 
30. ↑ Maximilian Kettenbach, Richard Strobl: Berlin: Brutal attack on Welkes team - but all suspects are free again. “Going on with the team with killers”. merkur.de , May 4, 2020, accessed on May 4, 2020 . 
31. ^ ^{A b} Felix Huesmann: Dangerous conspiracy theories of the end of democracy. RND, May 9, 2020
32. ↑ ^{a b} Thousands at demos against corona rules. tagesschau.de , May 9, 2020, accessed on May 9, 2020 . 
33. ↑ About 1,200 people demonstrate on Alexanderplatz - several arrests during a demonstration in front of the Reichstag. Rbb24 , May 9, 2020, accessed May 9, 2020 . 
34. ↑ Numerous demos in Berlin - the largest in front of the US embassy ; rbb of May 30, 2020; accessed on June 1, 2020
35. ^ Rüdiger Soldt: Protest in Berlin: The organizational structure behind the "hygiene demos" . FAZ August 4, 2020, accessed on August 4, 2020
36. ^ Traveling circus of the Corona deniers comes to town . rbb.de from July 31 , 2020, accessed on August 26, 2020
37. ^ ^{A b} Corona protests in Berlin: tightly packed against “virocrats” . taz from August 2, 2020, accessed on August 2, 2020
38. ↑ ^{a b} incorrect information about the size of the Berlin corona demo ; rbb of August 3, 2020; accessed on August 3, 2020
39. ↑ #Faktenfuchs: How many people were on the Corona demo in Berlin? August 3, 2020, accessed on August 13, 2020 . 
40. ↑ Philipp Bovermann: Corona demo in Berlin: 17,000 - or 1.3 million? Retrieved August 13, 2020 . 
41. ↑ tagesschau.de: Corona demo in Berlin: Fake news about the number of participants. Retrieved August 13, 2020 . 
42. ↑ Christian Jakob and Jonas Wahmkow: Reich Party Rally for the Virus. In: taz of August 3, 2020, p. 4 f.
43. ↑ Anti-Corona demo: ver.di draws a negative balance. In: dju.verdi.de. August 3, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020 . 
44. ↑ Demo against Corona rules: Dunja Hayali cancels shooting . Berliner Morgenpost dated August 2, 2020, accessed on August 3, 2020
45. ↑ 18 police officers injured during protests in Berlin zeit.de from August 2, 2020, accessed on August 22, 2020
46. ↑ 45 police officers injured during demonstrations in Berlin berlin.de from August 2, 2020, accessed on August 25, 2020
47. ↑ ^{a b} Felix Hackenbruch, Julius Betschka, Julius Geiler: Berlin prohibits corona demos - threats against the police www.tagesspiegel.de, August 26, 2020
48. ↑ ^{a b} Julius Betschka: This is how the extreme right wants to subvert the Corona protest www.tagesspiegel.de, August 25, 2020
49. ↑ Assembly against Corona policy permitted subject to conditions (No. 42/2020). In: press release. Administrative Court Berlin, August 28, 2020, accessed on August 28, 2020 . 
50. ↑ Court overturns ban on demonstrations against Corona policy . rbb24.de from August 28, 2020, accessed on August 28, 2020.
51. ^ Rallies in Berlin may take place . tagesschau.de from August 29, 2020, accessed on August 29, 2020
52. ↑ Sabine am Orde: Calling yes, demonstrating no taz.de, August 24, 2020
53. ↑ Diana Pieper, Annelie Naumann: Alternative demos registered - if necessary with gun violence www.welt.de, August 27, 2020
54. ↑ Police dissolve corona demo in Berlin , Spiegel Online, August 29, 2020.
55. ↑ DER SPIEGEL: Protests against Corona policy: tens of thousands of people at the rally at the Victory Column - spiegel.de. Retrieved August 29, 2020 . 
56. ↑ Thomas Fischer , former judge at the Federal Court of Justice: Comment (spiegel.de)
57. ↑ Anti-Corona demo much larger than expected , n-tv.de, August 29, 2020
58. ↑ ^{a b} Konrad Litschko: Protest against Corona measures in Berlin: Absurd side by side taz.de, August 29, 2020
59. ↑ Worries came true: Corona demo with “Storm on the Reichstag” . rnd.de from August 29, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020.
60. ↑ Hildmann arrested at the Reichsbürger demonstration in Berlin. Escalation in front of the Russian embassy. rbb24.de, August 29, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020 . 
61. ^ Attila Hildmann was released after arrest. Stern.de , August 30, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020 . 
62. ↑ Almost 40,000 people at Corona demos - locks on the Reichstag broken. rbb24.de, August 29, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020 . 
63. ^ "Attack on the heart of our democracy". Escalation at the Reichstag. tagesschau.de, August 30, 2020, accessed on August 30, 2020 . 
64. ^ Johann Osel: Authorities check the appearances of police officers at the Berlin demo www.sueddeutsche.de, August 30, 2020
65. ↑ How the critics of the Corona policy talk themselves into a rage. Rundblick, May 3, 2020
66. ↑ Opponents of the Corona restrictions demonstrate at the Maschsee. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung , May 3, 2020, accessed on May 3, 2020 . 
67. ↑ Thousands of people, no distance: Corona demos are getting out of hand. BR.de, May 10, 2020, accessed on May 1, 2020 . 
68. ↑ D. Hutter, C. Koopmann and T. Soyer: Thousands of people, no distance: Corona demos are getting out of hand. Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2020, accessed on May 18, 2020 . 
69. ↑ 2000 anti-vaccination opponents demonstrate in Nuremberg without a minimum distance - and demonstratively embrace. Northern Bavaria, May 9, 2020, accessed on May 11, 2020 . 
70. ↑ Corona demo is getting out of hand: Nuremberg's mayor is now speaking. Northern Bavaria, May 11, 2020, accessed on May 11, 2020 . 
71. ↑ After demos against corona rules: Bavaria wants to act tougher. BR, May 11, 2020
72. ↑ ^{a b} Thousands demonstrate in Stuttgart against restrictions. Corona demonstrations. Zeit.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 3, 2020 . 
73. ↑ SWR Aktuell: Demonstration despite Corona in Stuttgart - court overturns ban. In: SWR Aktuell. Retrieved May 2, 2020 . 
74. ↑ SWR Aktuell: Demo against Corona restrictions in Stuttgart. In: SWR Aktuell. May 2, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 . 
75. ↑ Kira Ayyadi: Querfront in Stuttgart: Initiator of “lateral thinking” demo spreads conspiracy theories and NS-relativization. Belltower.News , May 7, 2020
76. ↑ Thousands on the streets, fire letter to Merkel: There is rumbling in Germany. Pressure before Corona summit is growing. Focus Online , May 3, 2020, accessed May 3, 2020 . 
77. ↑ Sylvia Lundschien: Large demo in Stuttgart: Thousands protested against Corona restrictions. May 2, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 . 
78. ↑ Torsten Schöll: Participants call for faster relaxation. Demo against corona rules in Stuttgart. Stuttgarter Zeitung , May 2, 2020, accessed on May 3, 2020 . 
79. ↑ Konrad Litschko: On the trail of the major conspiracy . New party of corona deniers. taz.de , May 5, 2020, accessed on May 5, 2020 . 
80. ↑ Simon Haas: Corona protest: How dangerous are the anti-lockdown demos? In: www.zdf.de. May 22, 2020, accessed June 28, 2020 . 
81. ↑ Thousands flock to the demonstration against corona rules on the Wasen. Stuttgarter Zeitung , May 9, 2020, accessed on May 9, 2020 . 
82. ↑ Another thousands expected at a demo against Corona requirements in Stuttgart. RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland , May 9, 2020, accessed on May 10, 2020 . 
83. ^ Tilman Baur: Alliance relies on solidarity in times of crisis. Counter event in Stuttgart. https://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/ , May 9, 2020, accessed on May 9, 2020 . 
84. ↑ Felix Bohr: 54-year-old is in mortal danger. After the attack in Stuttgart. Spiegel Online , May 20, 2020, accessed on May 22, 2020 . 
85. ↑ Corona crisis in Stuttgart: Only a few participants in corona demos on the Wasen. Stuttgarter Nachrichten, May 30, 2000, accessed on June 28, 2020 . 
86. ^ ^{A b} Christian Rath: Corona lawyer free again. taz, April 16, 2020
87. ^ POL-MA: Heidelberg: Investigation group "Römerstrasse" presents first results. In: https://www.presseportal.de . Police Mannheim, April 29, 2020, accessed on June 5, 2020 . 
88. ↑ Demo on Heidelberg Uni-Platz. rnz.de, April 29, 2020, accessed June 2, 2020 . 
89. ↑ Numerous protests against corona restrictions. BR, April 25, 2020
90. ↑ ^{a b c} 91 Administrative offense reports at the right-hand assembly in Aue-Bad Schlema. MDR, May 2, 2020
91. ↑ ^{a b} Hundreds of people at demos against anti-corona measures. SZ, May 3, 2020
92. ↑ ^{a b} Roswitha Polaschek: Several demos in the Allgäu against corona restrictions. BR, May 3, 2020
93. ^ ^{A b} Matthias Meisner, Paul Starzmann: Thuringia's FDP leader Kemmerich shares the stage with corona deniers in Gera. Tagesspiegel, May 10, 2020
94. ↑ Hanning Voigts: Frankfurt: Corona protests again - that's what the counter-demonstrators are planning. fr.de , May 19, 2020, accessed on May 23, 2020 . 
95. ↑ Corona demo: conspiracy theorist rants, police officer shows him. Mercury, May 19, 2020
96. ^ Corona demo in Passau. msn.com , May 18, 2020, accessed June 27, 2020 . 
97. ↑ ^{a b} Miriam Schröder and Katharina Iskandar: "The Nazi club no longer pulls". Demonstrations in Frankfurt. faz.net, May 16, 2020, accessed May 31, 2020 . 
98. ↑ Katharina Iskandar: State security investigates after corona protests. Hitler salute shown. faz.net, May 18, 2020, accessed May 31, 2020 . 
99. ↑ Hanning Voigts: Frankfurt: Corona protests again - that's what the counter-demonstrators are planning. fr.de , May 19, 2020, accessed on May 23, 2020 . 
100. ^ Administrative court Chemnitz approves demo of Pro Chemnitz. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 20, 2020, accessed on April 20, 2020 . 
101. ^ Massive police operation at the "Pro Chemnitz" rally. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk , April 20, 2020, accessed on April 20, 2020 . 
102. ↑ Pro-Chemnitz ban on demonstrations: Police dissolve protests. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 24, 2020, accessed on April 24, 2020 . 
103. ↑ “Red carpet for Pegida just in time for the Führer birthday”. Demo subject to conditions. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , April 20, 2020, accessed on April 20, 2020 . 
104. ↑ Maik Baumgärtner, Ann-Katrin Müller et al .: Anger and madness . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , May 9, 2020, p. 29 .
105. ↑ Domokos Szabó: The Corona Demo, which does not want to be called that. Sächsische Zeitung , April 22, 2020, accessed on April 23, 2020 . 
106. ↑ Matthias Meisner : Rights demonstrating in Pirna against Corona rules. Investigations against Saxon police officers. Der Tagesspiegel, April 23, 2020, accessed on April 23, 2020 . 
107. ^ Investigations after a meeting with 350 people in Pirna. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 30, 2020, accessed on May 1, 2020 . 
108. ↑ Johannes Korge: Pirna in Saxony: 30 people attack police officers in an anti-corona demonstration. dpa / Spiegel online, May 14, 2020
109. ↑ Patrick Gensing: Corona Protests: Warning against right-wing appropriation. Tagesschau, May 4, 2020
110. ↑ Several hundred people demonstrate in Freiburg against the AfD rally. Police check mouth and nose protection. swr.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 3, 2020 . 
111. ↑ Kemmerich: Corona demo has developed dynamics "that I have not seen in this way" RND, May 12, 2020
112. ↑ Alex Rühle: Conspiracy Theories: The Alliance of Nonsense. SZ, May 4, 2020
113. ↑ Maria Fiedler, Paul Starzmann: Since since with extremists: Who are the corona protests attracting? Tagesspiegel, May 10, 2020
114. ↑ Patrick Gensing: Corona Protests: Warning against right-wing appropriation. Tagesschau.de, May 4, 2020
115. ↑ Tilman Steffen: Corona protests: You want to be able to get infected. Time online, May 9, 2020
116. ↑ ^{a b} Corona demonstrations: Positions and protagonists www.deutschlandfunk.de, May 20, 2020
117. ↑ Sabine am Orde, Konrad Litschko: Constitutional protectors on corona deniers: "Forgetting history and being stupid". taz, May 11, 2020
118. ↑ Morten Freidel: BKA: Right-wing extremists instrumentalize corona demos . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , May 16, 2020. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
119. ↑ Media scientist: Do not devalue corona protests across the board. SWR , May 12, 2020, accessed on May 13, 2020 . 
120. ↑ Lisa Caspari: "Anyone who talks about a Corona dictatorship shows little idea". Die Zeit , May 13, 2020, accessed on May 13, 2020 . 
121. ^ Constitutional protection on corona demos: "Right-wing extremists instrumentalize protests." Tagesschau.de, May 17, 2020
122. ↑ Silvio Duwe: "Hygienedemos": Fueled by conspiracy myths www.tagesschau.de, June 8, 2020
123. ↑ Central Council of Jews criticizes Corona demos: "This behavior is unspeakable" www.rnd.de, August 16, 2020
124. ↑ "The peaceful people must distance themselves from the right-wing extremists" www.deutschlandfunk.de, August 30, 2020
125. ↑ Empty chairs draw attention to the plight of restaurateurs. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 24, 2020, accessed on April 24, 2020 . 
126. ↑ Restaurateurs and hoteliers symbolically give up the spoon. mdr.de, May 8, 2020, accessed on May 9, 2020 . 
127. ↑ Protests in the catering industry continue. br.de, May 8, 2020, accessed on May 9, 2020 . 
128. ^ ^{A b} Juliane Kipper: Time is of the essence for travel agencies. Balconies instead of the Balearic Islands? n-tv .de, April 29, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
129. ↑ Suitcases and sun loungers: the travel industry demonstrated. Welt.de, April 29, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
130. ↑ Parasol in the rain: travel agencies call for help. Welt.de, April 29, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
131. ↑ Red alert at tagesschau.de from June 23, 2020
132. ↑ Jörg Ihßen: "Night of Light": Red alert for the event industry at ndr.de from June 23, 2020
133. ↑ Most park visitors adhere to the regulations. Police controls in Berlin. rbb24.de, March 28, 2020, accessed April 14, 2020 . 
134. ↑ hessenschau.de, Frankfurt, Germany: Protest and pandemic: dispute over police action against Seebrücke demo. In: hessenschau.de. April 7, 2020, accessed April 11, 2020 . 
135. ↑ Erik Peter: Shoes are not allowed to demonstrate. Protests for refugees. taz, April 5, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
136. ↑ Bicycle demonstration for refugees is expensive for participants. Welt.de , April 9, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
137. ↑ More than 150 people at the demo despite Corona. NDR , April 8, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
138. ↑ Hamburg: Demonstration for the acceptance of refugees. NDR, April 18, 2020, accessed on April 20, 2020 . 
139. ^ Vigils and demonstrations in Stuttgart and Hamburg. Rallies in Corona times. Deutschlandfunk, April 19, 2020, accessed on April 20, 2020 . 
140. ↑ 500 people demonstrate on the Elbe for refugees. NDR, April 26, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
141. ^ Protest against refugee policy in Hamburg. NDR, April 25, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2020 . 
142. ↑ Despite Corona contact ban: demo in Hanover. NDR, April 12, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
143. ↑ Police break up illegal demonstration in Hanover. Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 12, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
144. ^ Andreas Fritsche: Political queue at the bakery (new Germany). Retrieved April 14, 2020 . 
145. ↑ Demonstrators gather in "queue". Protest in Potsdam for refugees. rbb24, April 12, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
146. ↑ Anti-Corona regulations: Police dissolve demonstration. Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 22, 2020, accessed on April 23, 2020 . 
147. ↑ Uta Schleiermacher Cornern with the police. Pier protest in Berlin. TAZ, April 27, 2020, accessed on May 4, 2020 . 
148. ↑ Jan Zier: Bremen's police are taking action against the demo: Consistently - against refugees. In: taz.de . March 30, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 . 
149. ↑ Erik Peter: Corona and the right to demonstrate: calm in the box. In: taz.de . April 6, 2020, accessed April 7, 2020 . 
150. ↑ Serena Bilanceri: Demonstration because of the corona outbreak in Bremen refugee accommodation . butenunbinnen.de , April 17, 2020, accessed on April 21, 2020 . 
151. ^ ^{A b} Jörn Hasselmann et al .: Hundreds at demonstrations on May 1st in Berlin. Despite coronavirus rules. tagesspiegel.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
152. ↑ More than 1000 people in unauthorized protests. Demos on May 1st in Berlin. faz.net, May 2, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 . 
153. ↑ May 1st: Police dissolve prohibited gatherings. ndr.de, May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
154. ↑ ^{a b} Hundreds of people demonstrate in Leipzig. First of May. Zeit.de, May 1, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
155. ^ Spontaneous demonstration and shortened rally in Leipzig. MDR.de, May 1, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
156. ↑ Katharina Pfadenhauer: May 1st in Bavaria: Several hundred participants in demos. br.de, May 1, 2020, accessed on May 5, 2020 . 
157. ↑ Torsten Schöll: May demos under the sign of the corona pandemic. Labor Day in Stuttgart. stuttgarter-zeitung.de, May 1, 2020, accessed on May 5, 2020 . 
158. ↑ Livestream from May 1st: #SolidarischNichtAlleine. DGB, May 1, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
159. ↑ DGB calls for "Sonderfonds Kurzarbeitgeld Plus". Süddeutsche Zeitung, April 27, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
160. ↑ DGB only demonstrates symbolically because of Corona. Rbb24 , May 2, 2020, accessed May 2, 2020 . 
161. ^ DGB: Small assembly and online announcement. NDR , May 2, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
162. ↑ "Appreciation also has a price". Tagesschau.de , May 1, 2020, accessed on May 2, 2020 . 
163. ↑ Easter March in the living room - went well despite Corona. WDR , April 13, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 . 
164. ↑ ^{a b} Katharina Schipkowski: Easter marches digital. Peace movement in pandemic times. taz, April 13, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
165. ↑ Virtual Easter March 2020. Network Peace Cooperative, accessed on April 18, 2020 . 
166. ↑ Instead of Easter marches: plane pulls message of peace. Welt.de , April 11, 2020, accessed on April 13, 2020 . 
167. ↑ Despite Corona: 40 participants in the demo in Schwerin. NDR , April 13, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
168. ^ Schwerin administrative court: demonstrations subject to conditions. Süddeutsche Zeitung , April 12, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
169. ↑ Lonely signs and online climate demo. "Fridays for Future". Tagesschau.de , April 24, 2020, accessed on April 24, 2020 . 
170. ↑ Jonas Wagner: rattling against the housing crisis. New Germany , March 29, 2020, accessed on April 14, 2020 . 
171. ↑ North Rhine-Westphalia - Demos against nuclear transports approved despite corona pandemic. In: deutschlandfunk.de. April 15, 2019, accessed April 6, 2020 . 
172. ↑ Westdeutsche Zeitung: NRW: Anti-nuclear power demo in Corona times: distance and face mask. In: wz.de. April 6, 2020, accessed April 6, 2020 . 
173. ^ Dpa, Joel Hunold: Despite Corona: Court allows demo against uranium transport. In: muensterschezeitung.de. April 25, 2020, accessed May 1, 2020 . 
174. ↑ Better conditions for the nursing profession. MDR, May 12, 2020, accessed May 13, 2020 . 
175. ↑ Collective agreements for everyone. Taz.de, May 12, 2020, accessed on May 13, 2020 . 
176. ^ Poster campaign and rally in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs: Care Day in Saxony. MDR, May 12, 2020, accessed May 13, 2020 . 
177. ↑ Dozens demonstrate for better care. NDR, May 12, 2020, accessed on May 13, 2020 . 
178. ↑ Nationwide large demonstrations against racism. After the death of George Floyd. tagesschau.de, June 6, 2020, accessed on August 4, 2020 . 
179. ↑ NDR: Thousands at demos against racism in Hamburg. Retrieved August 15, 2020 . 
180. ↑ Global anti-racism protests: protesters throw statue in Bristol in the harbor basin , General-Anzeiger from June 8, 2020; accessed on August 15, 2020
181. ↑ kirk./dpa/AFP: "Racism is a virus". In: FAZ.net . June 7, 2020, accessed June 8, 2020 . 
182. ↑ Criticism of inadequate infection protection at demos in Berlin. Measures against Corona. rbb24.de, June 7, 2020, accessed on August 15, 2020 . 
183. ↑ Georg Ismar: "It was the ideal super-spreading event". Anti-racism demonstration in Berlin. Tagesspiegel.de, June 8, 2020, accessed on August 15, 2020 . 
184. ↑ Spahn reminds of distance rules. After demonstrations against racism. tagesschau.de, June 7, 2020, accessed on August 15, 2020 . 
185. ↑ Gernot Knödler: Demos banned due to corona pandemic: virus kills freedom of assembly. In: taz.de . April 2, 2020, accessed April 3, 2020 . 
186. ↑ Erik Wenk: For the time being, no lido demolition. Demonstration in the Babelsberg Park. Potsdam Latest News , April 21, 2020, accessed April 23, 2020 .