Anti-war protest camp opens in Cologne amid heavy police presence

An anti-war coalition is opening a protest camp in Cologne’s Grüngürtel, with police preparing a major security operation. The Rheinmetall Disarm group expects 500 registered participants at the camp, which runs from Tuesday through Sunday.

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We want to oppose rearmament around the world and in Germany.

Demonstrations are planned for Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. The coalition says it wants to oppose rearmament in Germany and around the world.

Cologne police said up to 1,000 officers could be deployed at the peak of Tuesday’s operation. Police director Frank Wißbaum said preparations had been under way for some time and that officers would remain on duty around the clock to respond to unauthorized actions.

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As Cologne police, we have been preparing intensively for the announced protest camp and the other gatherings for some time.

Wißbaum also stressed that freedom of assembly and freedom of expression remain cornerstones of democracy. The preparations follow confrontations at last year’s closing demonstration, when 13 police officers and at least nine protesters were injured. Both sides accused the other after the clashes.

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We are deployed around the clock and are therefore also able to respond to unauthorized actions.

Members of the coalition had also demonstrated last year outside a Bundeswehr building and near the private home of Rheinmetall chief executive Armin Papperger.

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Freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are cornerstones of our democracy.