Molotov Cocktails in Märkisches Viertel, Boarding Up on the Ku'damm: Berlin's Demo Weekend in Review

Berlin's demo weekend left the city with two contrasting stories. In the north, up to 120 people — mostly youths — clashed with around 80 police officers on Wilhelmsruher Damm in the Märkisches Viertel for more than two hours on late Sunday afternoon. Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at officers, who sustained no serious injuries. At least four people were arrested, including a 14-year-old on suspicion of breach of the public peace. Burning trash bins were pushed onto the road and pyrotechnics were set off during the unrest. Stephan Weh, state chair of the police union GdP, condemned the Molotov attacks as attempted homicides, arguing the violence had nothing to do with legitimate youth protest and represented a pattern of increasingly routine criminality the union had been warning about for years. Residents in the Märkisches Viertel reacted with a mix of resignation and habit, with some describing repeated disturbances in the area as an annual occurrence. Meanwhile, in Charlottenburg, luxury retailers including Rolex, Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Tiffany & Co. had boarded up their shopfronts ahead of the weekend, citing warnings of potential French-style riot damage. By Monday morning, all panels had come down after the Ku'damm area came through the demonstrations without any reported damage.