On Saturday, several thousand demonstrators from Germany’s Lateral Thinking movement, which protested against emergency measures and vaccination rules during the corona pandemic, marched through Berlin.
Some participants waved banners demanding a “review” of government measures imposed to control the spread of the virus and the “consequences for those responsible”.
Others waved flags bearing the dove as a symbol of peace and condemned the current German government’s efforts to rebuild the country’s armed forces.
Many were strongly opposed to the centre-left coalition government of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and some carried banners of the fringe political party Die Basis, which has alleged ties to the Lateral Thinking movement.
On Saturday afternoon, demonstrators marched through the center of the German capital.
A police spokesman said the demonstration was peaceful, although officers noted several violations of the ban on hanging posters of the political magazine Compact, which was recently banned by German authorities for its far-right nature.
According to preliminary police estimates, about 9,000 people attended the demonstration.
A total of 500 police officers were deployed to monitor the demonstration, and several counter-demonstrations were also planned.
The Lateral Thinking, or Querdenken, movement emerged throughout Germany during the coronavirus pandemic. Supporters repeatedly demonstrated against measures to contain the virus.
In August 2020, an estimated 20,000 people took part in a demonstration against the corona measures in Berlin. According to the organizers, however, the actual crowd was much larger.
