"It's 5 before 1933"

Violent demonstrations in Germany over migration

Participants hold up lights and signs on the street in front of the CDU party headquarters during a demonstration under the slogan "Uprising of the decent - demo for the firewall".

(Bild: APA/dpa/Sebastian Gollnow)

Tens of thousands of people have once again taken to the streets across Germany to protest against the joint vote by the CDU/CSU and AfD in the German Bundestag.

The reason for the demonstrations is that the CDU and CSU pushed through a motion to tighten migration policy in the Bundestag on Wednesday with the help of the AfD. For the first time, the AfD secured a majority in the plenary - but the motion passed has no binding effect. A bill introduced by the CDU/CSU to limit migration failed on Friday.

According to initial police reports, there were around 160,000 demonstrators in Berlin alone, with the organizers claiming 250,000 participants. Around 15,000 gathered in Saarbrücken and between 13,000 and 14,000 in Kiel. People also took to the streets in Regensburg, Ulm, Potsdam, Cologne and other cities.

According to the organizers, 250,000 demonstrators were counted in Berlin alone.

(Bild: APA/AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Demonstration in front of the CDU party headquarters
In Berlin, people initially gathered in front of the Reichstag building. The demonstration then stretched from the Victory Column to the CDU party headquarters. It was held under the slogan "Uprising of the decent - We are the firewall!" The campaign alliance Campact had called for the demonstration.

Many participants carried posters and banners. Among other things, they read "It's 5 before 1933" and "No Merz in February". They also read "Better Merz-less than heart-less" and "CDU, give us back the C". In front of the CDU party headquarters, demonstrators lit up with cell phone lights and there were boos for the CDU candidate for chancellor, Friedrich Merz (CDU). The demonstrators shouted: "We are the firewall", Merz should be ashamed of himself.

(Bild: APA/AFP/John MACDOUGALL)

Friedman: "The CDU is a democratic party"
 Publicist Michel Friedman, who recently left the CDU, said that despite all the justified criticism of the CDU's behavior, one thing should not be forgotten: "The CDU is a democratic party." With regard to the AfD, he added: "The party of hate is the party that does not stand on the ground of democracy." Nevertheless, the CDU's "mistake" remains inexcusable for him.

The former Council Chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, declared that a vote like that of the CDU/CSU and AfD should never happen again - especially as the victims of National Socialism had only just been commemorated. From now on, the following must apply: "You do not make common cause with those who trample on human dignity. Period."

Water sports enthusiasts demonstrate with 350 boats on the Rhine
Water sports enthusiasts demonstrated in Cologne with a total of 350 boats under the motto "Colorful instead of brown". In sunny weather, they lined up one behind the other on the Rhine in front of the skyline with the cathedral. They held up banners with inscriptions such as "No racism" and "For democracy and diversity".

The unusual rally was organized by the "Wassersportfreunde Neptun Köln". The demonstration on the water was a first in this form, they said. In total, around 1000 people took part on the water and on land, said a spokeswoman for the water police.

People had already taken to the streets in a number of cities on Saturday to call for diversity and for the CDU/CSU to distance itself from the AfD. According to the police, around 65,000 people took to the streets in Hamburg and around 14,000 in Essen. Demonstrations also took place in Leipzig, Stuttgart, Braunschweig, Würzburg, Augsburg, Bremen and other cities.