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More than 100,000 protesters every week – “stable core of extremist forces”

More than 4,400 demonstrations related to corona policy, the Ukraine war or the climate and energy crisis have taken place in Germany since the beginning of September.

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More than 100,000 protesters every week – “stable core of extremist forces”

More than 4,400 demonstrations related to corona policy, the Ukraine war or the climate and energy crisis have taken place in Germany since the beginning of September. This emerges from figures from the assembly authorities, which WELT AM SONNTAG evaluated exclusively.

So far there is no nationwide situation report on the protests, although politicians and constitutional protection officers had already warned in the summer of "threatening security situations" or even "popular uprisings" in view of the energy shortage and rising prices. The evaluation now shows for the first time: Since mid-September, more than 100,000 people have taken to the streets every week.

The basis for the evaluation is information from 14 countries for the period from August 29 to October 23. Only Bavaria and Hamburg were unable to give figures on the meetings; information from Brandenburg is only available for the second half of the period, from Saxony-Anhalt the number for the first week is missing.

Since the beginning of September, right-wing and left-wing alliances have been mobilizing for gatherings, often under the motto “hot autumn”, and protests are taking place regularly every week in many cities. The authorities state that right-wing extremists, "Reich citizens" and "state delegitimizers" are often involved in the organization of rallies - or try to co-opt them.

The federal chairman of the police union, Jochen Kopelke, said: "We get the frustration of many on the streets, in the operations." The burden on the officers is high. He demanded that politicians should provide better information about their actions: "Enter direct dialogue. Otherwise the Pied Pipers will gradually outstrip you and democracy will be in serious jeopardy.”

The figures show clear focal points in the East. In Saxony, most participants were counted at meetings. Calculated in relation to the number of inhabitants, more people demonstrated in every eastern German state than in the western ones. In a joint statement on Friday, the interior ministers from the east expressed concern about the involvement of extremists.

Thuringia's department head Georg Maier (SPD) told this newspaper that in times of crisis, valves are needed, protests against the government are legitimate. At the same time, he is concerned about the assessment that behind the mobilization for the demonstrations "often neo-Nazis, 'Reich citizens', lateral thinkers or also members of the AfD" would be: "These forces want to scare the population even more." legitimate protest against higher energy prices, but to belittle the government and our democracy".

The Minister of the Interior of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Christian level (SPD), made a similar statement, saying that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is observing mobilization by extremists. and said: "The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania therefore very well considers the mobilization from this milieu."

Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) said: "We are observing a stable core of extremist forces that are looking for a connection to the meetings or want to attract attention through provocations on the sidelines." to hijack".

Brandenburg's Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) warned that "the protests are being used by actors with extremist connections to spread their ideology". In fact, according to Stübgen, the people in the country are increasingly unsettled by the "botched up gas levy". And the majority of the participants are not extremists either. He asks them to see who is walking next to them: "Don't let extremists exploit you!"

The police registered the peak of the protests in the week beginning October 3, when more than 140,000 people were counted at demonstrations. The largest rally in the observation period also took place on that Saturday: 10,000 people protested in the government district following a call by the AfD. However, so far the mass of the demonstrations have had an average of fewer than 200 participants. Only a few meetings had several thousand participants. Since October 10, there has been a decrease in the number of participants.

The figures also show that it has not yet been possible to centralize the protest in one place. Because while the total number of demonstrators is decreasing, the number of gatherings is constantly increasing: while there were around 400 demonstrations at the beginning of September, the authorities already counted more than 700 by mid-October.

Josef Holnburger from the Berlin think tank Cemas, which systematically monitors right-wing extremists, speaks of a "fragmentation" of the scene. The political scientist says: "In view of the multiple current crises, the protest milieu is overwhelmed and is struggling to find a common line." There is currently a lot of contention and therefore no one who can mobilize a large demonstration.

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