In Greiz, Thuringia, 14 police officers were reportedly injured during the protests. Following calls on social media, up to 1000 people had gathered in the town on Saturday, the police reported on Sunday. Protesters tried to break through a police cordon. The police responded by using pepper spray.

In video sequences circulated on Twitter, protesters could be seen wrestling with officers in an attempt to break through the cordon. A photographer from the Deutsche Presse-Agentur on site said the mood was aggressive. Two injured police officers were temporarily unfit for duty, police said. One injured officer was treated in hospital. The police identified 207 protesters, issued 108 orders to leave the area and initiated 44 criminal proceedings. In addition, 47 proceedings for administrative offences were underway.

In Reutlingen (Baden-Württemberg), about 1500 people took part in a rally under the slogan "For freedom, truth and self-determination" on Saturday, according to police. Requests to wear a mask were ignored, they said, which resulted in the meeting being broken up. According to the police, a group nevertheless continued to march, and fireworks were set off and flares lit. When the police tried to stop the gathering, participants forced their way through the chain of officers, who responded by using pepper spray and batons. In the course of the evening, several criminal proceedings were initiated for assault, insulting a police officer and attempted assault. In addition, about 100 people were ordered to leave the area.

Injuries were also reported in Bennewitz near Leipzig. According to police reports, two officers were injured slightly on Sunday morning. Two of the demonstrators also suffered minor injuries. According to the police, a total of about 25 people had gathered in the Schmölen district. This is currently not permitted under the Coronavirus Emergency Ordinance.

In Plauen, Saxony, police took action against unauthorised protests by several hundred people on Sunday evening, surrounding one group of demonstrators. The situation in the town was "dynamic" in the early evening, police said.

Nearly 100 people took part in an illegal demonstration in Frankfurt (Hesse) on Saturday. The police broke up the gathering, they reported. An unregistered protest march of the "Querdenker" movement against the Coronavirus regulations with at times some 550 people was also stopped by the police in Hamm (North Rhine-Westphalia). During the march on Saturday afternoon there were many violations of the Coronavirus Protection Ordinance and of the general order of the city, the police reported. Criminal proceedings were initiated against the alleged leader of the demonstration for violating the assembly law and for insulting a police officer.

People also took to the streets against the Coronavirus measures in Hamburg, Trier, Berlin, Schwerin and various cities in Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt. There it remained peaceful.

There were also protests outside Germany this weekend: in Barcelona, some 3000 people took part in one of the comparatively rare demonstrations in Spain against Coronavirus restrictions. The main issue was the obligation in Catalonia to show a COVID passport when entering nightclubs, discos, restaurants or gyms. In Austria, around 15,000 people gathered at a rally on Vienna's Heldenplatz on Saturday, according to police. The head of the right-wing FPÖ, Herbert Kickl, called for resistance against the planned compulsory vaccination starting in February.

Originaltext

dpa

Translation

Jean Lennox