Protest Demonstrations

Over the years, I've probably watched (from the street or background) at least forty-odd demonstrations here in Germany.  I've seen them in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Munch, Kaiserslautern, and Darmstadt.

All of them basically went down a general script.  They meet at x-point (usually a train station or city-park), a march occurs along a street that the police give permission for the march, and then it concludes with speeches made by the leadership members of the protest.

The most interesting protest?  Last year, in Wiesbaden, with the farmers bringing their hundreds of tractors into the city.  They tied up one major street of the city, but this was approved with some rules in place by the police.

The least 'thrilling'?  Probably a Kurd protest over Turkey's Erdogan in Wiesbaden.  It had roughly two-hundred folks, and as soon as the 'big' speech was accomplished....everyone broke up quickly and went home.  You could tell that they did come out to support the frustration, but it wasn't the same enthusiasm that you'd see with the Greta-kids, or the metal-worker crowd, or bus-driver union.

Why I observe?  I rarely care about the theme or logic of a protest.  It's the crowd emotions and enthusiasm, along with the signs made for the occasion that interest me.  German farmers, are fairly creative with their slogans and signs....which I admire. 

Damaging of public or private property?  In urbanized cities (Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg for examples)....it's a potential problem.  Beyond that, in the rest of the country....these protest-demonstrations never get to the violent stage. 

I doubt if anyone keeps logs or data records, but I would go and suggest that around 99-percent of demonstrations in Germany usually end within three hours, and the worst damage that you might expect is trash cans overflowing or an entire area of town that is blocked off. 

It is the one-percent things that the authorities and police worry about.  Generally, if someone says it's a anti-capitalism demonstration in Frankfurt and violent parties might be arriving from beyond the city limits, then you can deduce that public and private damage is on the agenda. 

So this brings up the German inventory of water cannons.  The federal police inventory?  Fifteen of them.  The state/city police?  If you look at the contract talk from 2010, there's probably another forty-six. They are always careful about talking about them or where they 'hide' them.  They are part of the public safety plan in each state or major urban city. 

The cannons are built to carry 10k liters of water, and can blast out 3k liters of water in a minute. 

If you reach a stage where protest has gone to the violent stage, the water cannon ends up being the phase to ease protesters off the streets. 

If you were in the landscape and simply observing the whole thing...once you see any indication of violence (especially in Frankfurt), it would be wise to move on, and leave the area...because the water cannon business would likely occur as the next part of the situation. 

But I go back to the same topic...99-percent of all protests never get to any violent stage.  People do their march....a speech is made...folks mingle a bit, and then they all go home.