Two alliances called for Dresden – around 3,000 people came. They also demonstrated for the attacked SPD politician Matthias Ecke.
According to the police, around 3,000 people demonstrated for democracy and against violence in Dresden after the attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke. They gathered early on Sunday evening in the Striesen district. There, Ecke was beaten up by four young men while hanging up election posters on Friday evening.
East Germany fought for and fought for democracy in 1989, said Bundestag Vice President Katrin-Göring-Eckardt (Greens) at the start. “And we will not give in to those who despise democracy.” And they will certainly not give up “if one of us has to experience violence,” emphasized the politician. “We are the people,” Göring-Eckardt continued.
“Violence has no place”
Among the participants at Pohlandplatz were the federal chairwoman of the SPD, Saskia Esken, Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) and Saxony’s Justice Minister Katja Meier (Greens).
Following the recent attacks on politicians and campaign workers, two alliances called for spontaneous demonstrations in Berlin and Dresden on Sunday. The internet portal “Together Against the Right” and the alliance “We are the Firewall Dresden” published calls to this effect on their Instagram channels. “Violence has no place in our democracy!” it said.
There were also demonstrations in Berlin. According to initial police reports, over 1,000 people attended the demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Originally, 50 participants were announced for the rally, as the police said in advance. The Green Party chairmen Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert, as well as the Prime Ministers of Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, Michael Kretschmer and Hendrik Wüst (both CDU), also came to the demonstration.
Klingbeil criticizes AfD
On behalf of the SPD, Klingbeil expressed shock at the act of violence. “The Höckes and the Gaulands and the Weidels may not have raised their fist and they didn’t strike directly. But I’m telling you, they helped produce the social climate in this country that makes other people rely on volunteers and activists to hit politicians.”
Climate activist Luisa Neubauer emphasized that the attack on Ecke meant all Democrats. “When people who stand up for democracy are attacked, when people who speak out for justice are torn apart on the Internet, when people no longer dare to stand up freely for non-violence, for democracy, for a better society, then we are everyone is meant.”
Wüst previously said in the ARD “Report from Berlin” that violence is not an effective means in politics. The attacks were reminiscent of the darkest chapters in German history.