Michael Trammer

On November 21st, more than 500 followers of the "Querdenken" movement gathered in Hannover. They were mobilized across the region in telegram chat groups and on Facebook. Prominent guests of the scene such as Anselm Lenz were announced. In fact, some of the speakers were already well-known: The police officer who had been suspended from duty, Michael Fritsch, said that Germany had no constitution, that police officers deployed at protests in Berlin were "bought mercenaries" and that people had been made into persons - in terms of content, Fritsch thus also uses stories from the Reichsbürger scene. The (according to his own statements) retired lieutenant Olaf Kastner spoke about the experience of the Wende as a NVA lieutenant and called out to the police and the Bundeswehr: "The weapons you have are not there to point them at those you have sworn to protect." Activist Jana from Kassel shouted from the stage that she feels like Sophie Scholl, after all she is also 22 years old and is now organizing her own protests, but unfortunately only 25 people would attend. She interrupted her first performance because of interruptions. Wolfgang Hoffmann, former police officer from Hamburg, who had already spoken at the "Corona Infobus" tour stop in Hanover, said that the Internet and YouTube streams had opened his eyes, and in the summer he had cancelled all the newspapers he had subscribed to. In addition, he sees "SA and SS troops" deployed in Berlin. Physical assaults against journalists occurred repeatedly. Among other things, one participant tried to snatch the camera from a colleague, one participant hit a colleague who was simply filming the crowd on the camera, and one participant punched a colleague in the nose. Among the demonstrators there were, as one would expect, some who belong to the extreme right scene. Some examples: Mario M., who was already at the forefront of the violent protests in Leipzig, and Deniz E., who recently stood in the front block in Berlin, were present. Also David S., from the young alternative participated. At the information booth, not only stickers but also materials with questionable pseudo facts about Covid-19 were handed out. The last speaker was "Superman" - known for his costume. Between the speeches there were several musical interludes. Many visitors left, however, when guitar playback was sung to. In addition, several blue and red smoke pots were ignited in the crowd, which caused a short confusion. More than 200 people protested against the "Querdenken 511"- Before the event began, a group unrolled a banner in black, white and red in front of the stage with the words: "Forced Vaccination Now! The emperor would have wanted it that way" from "DIE PARTEI". Arriving participants without masks were booed and there were fights of words at the side. For a short time it was a little more hectic in Luisenstraße, when anti-fascists tried to get closer to the "Querdenken" event. Meanwhile, the police kept checking people on the Opernplatz, who refused to wear a mouth and nose cover, and in several cases took up proceedings for administrative offences. Some even ended up twice in the processing line of the Hanover police.