Protests also in Cologne Ten „Querdenker“ members hold vigil in Bonn
Bonn/Cologne · A branch of the „Querdenker“ („Lateral Thinkers“) movement held a vigil in Bonn on Wednesday. Ten people took part. A protest event in Cologne was larger: There 120 people took to the streets in protest against the pandemic measures.
Supporters of the Bonn branch of the "Querdenker" movement held a vigil on Wednesday at the Münsterplatz in Bonn. The ten or so participants criticised the German government's corona measures and the cancellation of Karneval. They did adhere to the city's corona rules and requirements.
At the beginning, however, the public order office had to ask some of the spectators to wear the required mouth and nose protection. The event, which lasted from 11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., remained peaceful.
In Cologne on Wednesday, about 120 people demonstrated against the corona protection measures. They held up banners with inscriptions such as "Stop the Deep State", "Don't give Gates a chance" and "GDR went down after popular uprising - the BRD is going down due to decrees".
One of the participants, David (39) from near Bonn, said: "I am critical of the government's measures and find them no longer proportionate. You cannot know beforehand from which camps the people you are going to the demonstration come. I want to form my own opinion, but conspiracy theories can be dangerous.“
The Higher Administrative Court in Münster had previously declared several general corona restrictions on protests in Cologne to be illegal. These included limiting assemblies to a maximum of 100 people, making masks obligatory for all participants - apart from speakers during their speech - and banning marches. The court thus granted complaints from two applicants.
Original text: Dennis Scherer, with material by the dpa.
Translation: Mareike Graepel
