Protests over COVID-19 policies in Germany

Since April 2020, when Germany's Constitutional Court ruled that the pandemic lockdown – which had begun in March – did not allow authorities to impose blanket bans on rallies,[1] several protests have been held in Germany against German governmental COVID-19 measures. These attracted a mix of people from varied backgrounds, including supporters of populist ideas who felt called to defend against what they saw as an arrogant central government; supporters of various conspiracy theories; and sometimes far right-wing groups.[2] Anti-vaxxers generally also formed a major part of the protesters.[3][4]

COVID-19 anti-lockdown protests
in Germany
Part of protests over responses to the COVID-19 pandemic
Vincent van Volkmer, protesting bee activist (possibly Satoshi Nakamoto) with a "Free The Bee" notice board, in a bee costume during the COVID-19 protests in Berlin on 29 August 2020, near the Brandenburg Gate.
Date4 April 2020–present
Location
Berlin and several other cities
Caused by
Goals
  • Ending COVID-19 restrictions in Germany
Methods
StatusOngoing
Arrests
Arrested890+

Since about mid-year, the main organizer of these protests has been a group called Querdenken ("lateral thinking"), which was initially based in Stuttgart[5] but soon started to organize rallies also in Berlin and other cities. In the second lockdown beginning in November 2020, as protests sometimes turned violent, observers considered it possible that more radical conspiracy theories and far-right groups were increasing their influence in the movement.[5] In several cases, higher courts overturned decisions by local authorities to ban rallies, but a ban on a rally planned for 5 December in the northern city of Bremen was upheld.[6]

Background

From 22 March 2020, Germany entered a lockdown, initially for two weeks, in order to bring the COVID-19 pandemic under control.[7] It was eventually extended, with some differences among federal states, until June 2020.[8] The lockdown regulations included, besides a physical distancing requirement of 1,5 metres in public – to which a requirement to wear a nose and mouth covering in stores and on public transport was added in late April[9] –, initially also a prohibition for restaurateurs to provide in-house dining; also, service providers in close-contact professions, such as hair-dressers, cosmetic, massage and tattoo studios, were required to close.[7]

The first protest of what became to be known as Hygienedemos (hygiene demonstrations) took place on 28 March in Berlin,[10] and soon spread to other cities in Germany. At the 28 March rally no speeches were given, with its motto, "Defend basic rights – say no to dictatorship" also reflecting demands repeated at later weekly Hygienedemos. Observers noted that participants were from very disparate groups, some even holding conflicting views; they further noted that while the protesters were united in rejecting the anti-pandemic measures by the government – in which they saw violations of basic rights enshrined in the German constitution, such as the freedom of trade in view of the prohibitions mentioned above –, they lacked a common notion how they wanted society to be reshaped.[11]

During May, attendance at the Hygienedemos generally decreased sharply. This was attributed by observers to a combination of several factors: the relaxation of the lockdown that had been imposed in March; a high level of satisfaction in the general population about the government's handling of the crisis; the impact of counter-protests; and the recognition by the general population that the protests had shown to be utilized by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) and violent or extreme right-wing individuals sprouting conspiracy theories, including vegan chef Attila Hildmann.[12] The German non-government organization platform Campact warned its members against attending the Hygienedemos.[13]

From mid 2020, the main organizer of protests has been a group called Querdenken ("lateral thinking"), which was initially based in Stuttgart[5] but soon started to organize rallies also in Berlin and other cities; the individual groups often appended a number to their name indicating the phone area code (such as Querdenken 711 for Stuttgart). The Querdenken rallies saw a varied mixture of participants.[14] While protests became smaller than in summer, violence became more frequent.[15] There were increasing concerns that the rallies were becoming a platform for far-right, and even extremist, views, and that many protesters were embracing conspiracy theories, notably those of the QAnon movement originating in the United States.[5]

In a number of instances, local authorities banned rallies as they deemed coronavirus protection plans submitted by the organizers as insufficient, also given the considerable numbers of protesters which these rallies began to attract from mid 2020. Several rallies only went ahead after a partial or whole overturn of such bans via court appeals. As the second wave of the pandemic resulted in a partial lockdown in November and December 2020 and daily infection numbers remained high, prohibitions began to be upheld more often, such as for a rally that had been planned in the northern city of Bremen for 5 December.[6]

Protests

The list of protests below is not exhaustive. Smaller protests also took place in several other cities.

Berlin

At the protest of 25 April, 1,000 protesters were gathered at the Volksbühne theatre. A slogan shouted by the people was: "I want my life back".[16][17] Protest signs read: "Protect constitutional rights", “Freedom isn’t everything, but without freedom, everything is nothing”, "Daddy, what is a kiss?". Physical distance requirements were violated by a part of the protesters. The police arrested 100 people, a spokesman said that "during coronavirus times and according to containment regulations, we are obliged to prevent a gathering".[17] Protesters handed out a newspaper questioning the need for lockdown measures and claiming the coronavirus is an attempt to seize power by spreading fear,[16] this newspaper quoted 127 medical doctors questioning the need for strict lockdowns.[17]

Two rallies against COVID-19 policies took place in Berlin on 9 May. At a rally in front of the Reichstag building, where conspiracy theorists had been speaking according to observations by a press photographer, police arrested about 30 protesters. The purpose of the arrests had mainly been to check identities after the minimum distance requirement had not been met multiple times, and as calls by police on protesters to observe the 50-person limit for the location were not heeded.[18] At a rally on Alexanderplatz, 86 protesters were detained.[19]

Stuttgart

Also on 25 April, in Stuttgart a protest was organized by the group Querdenken 711, which drew between 350 and 500 people. Initially, this gathering was banned, and it could only go through after the Federal Constitutional Court gave its permission.[16] This group Querdenken 711 considers the German corona restrictions to be disproportionate,[20] and since May they demand in their manifesto that all measures that they deemed to be violations of the German Constitution by the German corona measures be repealed.[21]

During May, weekly Querdenken protests in Stuttgart had participants numbering in the thousands but saw a steep drop towards the end of the month. Rallies in Berlin and other cities also considerably decreased in size.[22]

Other cities

A rally in Munich on 9 May drew more than 3,000 demonstrators, who demanded the lifting of the coronavirus related restrictions. While many participants did not heed the instructions by police to maintain the physical distancing requirement, police refrained from dispersing the protesters "on the grounds of proportionality", as there was no violence. Thousands of others joined protests in Stuttgart and other German cities.[23]

1 August, Berlin

On Saturday, 1 August, Querdenken 711 organized a demonstration in the capital Berlin.[20] The master of ceremonies told the crowd to maintain some physical distance so as not to give the authorities a "pretext" to break up the event, but police reported that most demonstrators did not adhere to the "social distancing rules".[24]

The police at first stated there had been 20,000 protesters.[25] That number caused commotion, the organizers estimated there might have been 800,000 or more people. This number was dismissed by media fact-checkers as improbable.[26] The police later reconsidered their counting, and on Friday, 28 August, raised it to 30,000 demonstrators.[27]

29 August, Berlin

On Saturday 29 August, two demonstrations were organized by Querdenken 711 in Berlin. Leading politicians of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), including Tino Chrupalla and Björn Höcke, called for participation at the demonstrations, as did far-right political activist Götz Kubitschek.[28]

Invitation by the AfD party in Mainz to a New Year's reception on 16 January 2021. The added sticker says that the event was cancelled "thanks" to the lockdown, thereby expressing disapproval about the measure. The AfD is considered as supporting the protests to a large degree.

In total 38,000 people gathered according to official police statements,[29][30] from Germany and other European countries.[31] A previous ban by the authorities on the protests had been nullified by the courts.[32]

In the morning, 18,000 people had gathered in the city centre, planning to march from Unter den Linden to the Brandenburger Tor and Großen Stern. But as most demonstrators refused to keep the dictated 1½ meters distance or wear a nose and mouth covering, the police dispersed this demonstration after a few hours.[30][33]

In the afternoon, 30,000 people gathered at Straße des 17. Juni and Großen Stern for a demonstration with several orators.[30] Among those addressing the crowd were the American lawyer and activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of assassinated US President John F. Kennedy and son of the assassinated US presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy. Referring to the famed speech that his uncle had given in the city in 1963, he told the crowd that "today Berlin is again the front against totalitarianism", warning of a surveillance state.[31][30]

Mainstream media reporting on this protest, in Germany as well as other European countries and the United States, laid more emphasis on what was called a "storming" of the Reichstag building (Parliament building) by a group of people associated with "far-right" or even "nazis" than on the concerns of most demonstrators over worldwide corona policies.[30][31][33][34][35][36] In total, police made 316 arrests,[32] among them vegan chef and conspiracy theorist Attila Hildmann.[31] A substantial number of members of the extreme-right Reichsbürger movement was present at the rallies.[37]

12 September, Munich

Permissions for a parade through the city and a static rally, both organized by Querdenken 089 – the Munich section of the Querdenken movement –, were not finalized until the early morning, when a higher court overturned an earlier prohibition. However, the parade through the city was called off after organizers were unable to enforce the requirement on protesters to wear a nose and mouth covering, and the requirement on minimum physical distance. Also, at about 3,000, the number of protesters was much higher than the 500 which had been approved by authorities.

The main rally in the afternoon on the Theresienwiese, which had been cordoned off by police, was attended by about 10,000 protesters according to police estimates. Participants were warned to observe the nose and mouth covering and physical distancing rules. Police announced that legal action would be taken against about 100 participants who did not wear a mask.

During the rally, speakers addressed a wide range of grievances. They denounced the nose and mouth covering requirement as "muzzle" (the German equivalent Maulkorb has the additional meaning of something that restricts free speech), likened the police to that of communist East Germany, and proclaimed that they would refuse a coronavirus vaccination when it would become available.

The rally was considered by police to have been by and large peaceful. A counterdemonstration which focused on the right-wing conspiracy theories which they saw as being propagated at the event drew about 1,000 people, according to police estimates. There were sporadic clashes between the two groups.[38][39]

20 September, Düsseldorf

A protest against COVID-19 related government restrictions took place on 20 September in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state capital Düsseldorf. Participants were required to maintain the physical distancing requirement of 1.5 metres as per NRW pandemic bylaws, but were not required to wear masks. Several counterdemonstrations were held in the city on the same day.[40]

3–4 October, Konstanz

Protests organized by Querdenken took place in Konstanz over two days. For the protests on 3 October, police estimated an attendance of 11,000 to 12,000 participants. Protesters who did not heed the nose and mouth cover requirement during an outdoor church service clashed with police who had been deployed to ensure that this requirement was met. For 4 October, organizers had called for a human chain of protesters around Lake Constance, but abandoned this plan as there were only 2,000 participants according to police. On the same day, counterprotests close to the Swiss border drew about 1,000 participants. Police used tear gas once to keep the two sides apart.[41]

7 November, Leipzig

A rally in Leipzig organized by Querdenken attracted at least 20,000 participants. Initially, police had intended the protest route to avoid the Augustusplatz in the inner city. This was overturned by the supreme administrative court of Saxony, whose decision had been based on a prospective estimate of approximately 16,000 participants, considering this to not exceed the capacity of the locality and neighbouring side streets under the physical distancing rules. Police tried to prevent the crowd – of which about 90 per cent did not heed the requirement to wear a nose and mouth covering, as police estimated – from proceeding to the inner city, but eventually allowed it through. Demonstrators sporadically clashed with police, and some attacked journalists. In response to the events, Saxony announced a tightening of pandemic related restrictions to come into force on 13 November, limiting the number of participants at rallies to a maximum of 1,000, subject to exceptions.[42]

Government spokesperson Steffen Seibert later said that "extremists, troublemakers and people prepared to use violence" had been present at the demonstration.[14]

18 November, Berlin
Police dispersing the protesters in Berlin on 18 November with water cannon, as the pandemic prevention requirements were not observed.

A protest particularly against the inclusion of current coronavirus restrictions into the Infection Protection Law took place in Berlin. Tensions ran high as protesters attempted to reach the Reichstag parliament building, in which the Bundestag was in session to discuss the law. The protesters were stopped by police in riot gear,[43] and used water cannon to disperse protesters. Almost 80 police were injured in clashes. Police made 365 arrests. The number of protesters at the rally was estimated to be over 10,000.[44] Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters; this was the first time they had come to be used in the city since 2013. In an interview the following day, the Berlin police director stated that the water cannon had deliberately been directed above the protesters (as seen in the photo) as police had intended to make the protesters feel uncomfortable in the cold weather and induce them to leave, also given that their proximity to the water cannon and the presence of children in the crowd had ruled out tougher action.[45]

On the same day, in highly unusual scenes, verbally aggressive individuals entered the Bundestag and eventually removed by police.[46] The Tagesspiegel reported that there had been four individuals entering, on invitation by AfD politicians Petr Bystron, Udo Hemmelgarn, and Hansjörg Müller.[47] The actions by the four individuals were criticized severely by observers, who considered their verbal attacks during their actions as proof that they had not intended to have any meaningful discourse with the politicians they encountered and filmed.[48] The parliamentary advisory committee commenced an investigation of the incident.[43] A parliamentary speaker said on 14 January 2021 that two participants had been banned from the Reichstag, with the still pending cases expected to result in fines.[49]

21 November, Leipzig

Several protests and counter-protests took place in Leipzig. The group Mitteldeutschland bewegt sich registered a rally on the Kurt-Masur-Platz. As the number of protesters reached 500 – twice as many as had been registered with authorities –, police considered the capacity of the location to be reached and stopped further protesters from entering. The protest was later cancelled because the applicant was unable to produce a valid medical certificate to justify his refusal to wear a nose and mouth covering. Several hundred protesters then moved through the inner city heading for the Rathaus (Town Hall), but were stopped and encircled by police, who strove to separate protesters and counter-protesters. Police refused to issue permits for spontaneous demonstrations. According to reports, a spontaneous demonstration of about 200 protesters organized by Antifa moved through the city centre.[50]

29 November, Frankfurt an der Oder

Some 1,000 Querdenker protesters rallied in Frankfurt an der Oder, including about 150 from the city of Slubice across the border to Poland. Most of the protesters did not heed physical distancing requirements, nor did they wear nose and mouth coverings, in defiance of repeated urging by the several hundred police attending.[51][52] Querdenken founder Michael Ballweg said in his speech that the movement had no place for extremism, violence, antisemitism, and inhuman ideas; several known extremists took part in the march, however. About 150 counter-protesters marched through the inner city of Frankfurt at the Oder.[52]

6 December, Düsseldorf

Around 1,500 participants of the Querdenken movement went to a demonstration in the city center of Düsseldorf. Amongst them several right wing groups attended. Massive police presence, such as a mounted division, a helicopter and water guns, made it possible to keep violence and riots to a minimum.[53] In November there already was a demonstration with about 500 people, due to the new program and different speakers, such as Michael Ballweg (founder of the movement), the number rose to 1,500 participants from all over Germany.[54]

Counterdemonstrations were held at the same time, with people from Church, trade unions and the cultural scene. Their reason for demonstrating mainly was that the Querdenken movement, in their view, had not sufficiently distanced itself from right-wing groups.[53]

Government, media and public analyses

In response to a parliamentary request from the Left Party, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) advised in early September 2020 that known proponents of extreme-right views had played a leading role at over 90 protests against coronavirus-leading restrictions since the end of April. The BfV said that the mobilization calls of right-wing extremists had broadened and intensified for the Berlin 29 August rally as compared to the Berlin 1 August rally, but had met with very limited success in their goal of connecting with democratic protests. It considered such a success at future rallies possible, though, and would continue its monitoring with a view to such developments.[37]

In an interview in May 2020, law professor Oliver Lepsius said that peaceful dissent always had to be allowed in a democracy, and that violations of the law by single individuals were a well-known phenomenon and could not be used to prohibit demonstrations. In his view, basic rights had "definitely" been endangered in the first months of the pandemic, but that the freedom of speech had been upheld throughout the crisis. Comparisons of government policies to the Third Reich, as repeatedly adopted by the protesters, would under no circumstances be appropriate.[55]

In May 2020, media professor Bernhard Pörksen told the dpa press agency that labeling the protesters as "paranoids", "hysterics", or similar wholesale attacks would only antagonize them and only serve to make it more difficult to reach the important goal of cooling down the debate. There should, he said, be no tolerance towards antisemitic or radical far-right views. Pörksen considered the ability of many citizens to distinguish between quality journalism and fake news as insufficient, and called for combating this "infodemic" along with the pandemic in the medium to long term.[56]

An article in the Tagesspiegel from May 2020 pointed out that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was trying to capitalize on the protests, but that in doing so it was entering a difficult balancing act, as it did not want to be seen as overtly supporting conspiracy theorists.[57]

In a commentary published by Deutschlandfunk on 30 August, journalist and jurist Heribert Prantl expressed the view that the basic right to demonstrate guaranteed by the German constitution was not diminished by the pandemic situation, and that even "abstruse" demands such as the immediate resignation of the German government by Querdenken protesters had to be tolerated. Violence and Volksverhetzung were however not to be tolerated.[58]

The advance of protesters to the German parliament building entrance at the demonstration on 29 August 2020, and the storming of the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, were seen by observers to have parallels, crucially a deep distrust in officials and conspiracy theories, in particular QAnon.[59]

Miscellany

In a Tweet posted on 1 August 2020, Saskia Esken, co-leader of the Social Democrats, referred to participants of the Berlin rally on that day as "Covidioten", the German equivalent of covidiots. Hundreds of citizens files complaints for insult; persecutors did not start investigations, however, as they regarded this utterance as being covered under freedom of speech laws.[60]

The term Coronadiktatur ("corona dictatorship"), which had gained popularity with protesters when referring to the German government, was one of two selected words for the Un-word of the year of 2020.[61]

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