© dpa
Once again this year, fireworks and firecrackers will be prohibited in three designated zones on New Year's Eve in Berlin.
General decrees were issued to set up the so-called pyrotechnics ban zones. The Berlin police are also promoting a respectful and non-violent celebration on New Year's Eve.
"The prohibited areas are located on Alexanderplatz, in the Steinmetzkiez area in Schöneberg and on part of Sonnenallee and adjacent side streets," the police announced on Friday. The ban applies from 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve until 6 a.m. on New Year's Day. The Steinmetzkiez includes Pallasstraße, where firecrackers were thrown for days at the turn of the year last year, including at people. Groups sometimes shot at each other. In addition, the use of pyrotechnics within the event area of the New Year's Eve celebration at the Brandenburg Gate has been prohibited by the organizers.
On New Year's Eve 2022/23, there were serious riots in Neukölln around Sonnenallee, in the High-Deck-Siedlung and in Gropiusstadt. Firecrackers were also thrown at the police in Schöneberg, Gesundbrunnen and Spandau, as well as in other major German cities. In recent years, there have been three firecracker ban zones in the capital: as there are now at Alexanderplatz and in Schöneberg near Pallasstraße - as well as in some streets in Alt-Moabit. According to the plans of the Senate Interior Administration, more than 2,800 police officers will be on the streets at the upcoming turn of the year in addition to the usual patrol car crews.