After two years without selling rockets and firecrackers, New Year’s Eve is expected to be louder and more colorful again this year. Nevertheless, certain areas for fireworks are taboo on December 31, according to a survey by the German Press Agency.
In Berlin, as in previous years, there should be a no-gun zone on Alexanderplatz, also in the so-called Steinmetzkiez in Schöneberg near Pallasstraße and in some streets in Alt-Moabit. The final decision is expected to be made in December, the Senate Interior Administration announced.
In 2019, the Senate issued no-gun zones for the first time, set up barriers and posted hundreds of police officers there to control access. There had always been injuries and clashes there before. The bans have worked.
New Year’s Eve with Corona restrictions
At the turn of the year 2021/22, the purchase of fireworks was banned throughout Germany due to the corona pandemic. In addition, the Berlin Senate set up 54 prohibited zones in large squares, streets and parks, where fireworks and staying were prohibited. However, such a ban is only possible if an epidemic situation of national importance is identified, the Senate said.
There aren’t any more. A ban on sales and a ban on buying and gathering for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are not foreseeable. In 2020 and 2021 they were imposed at the turn of the year to protect hospitals from being overloaded during the corona pandemic – among other things by preventing injuries when fireworks are set off on New Year’s Eve. According to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the decision to ban firecrackers on New Year’s Eve is now up to the cities and districts.
No firecracker zones in big cities
In several large cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, there should be a no-gun zone on New Year’s Eve for safety reasons. Of the ten largest cities in the most populous federal state, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Bielefeld intend to do so, according to a dpa survey. In Düsseldorf, for example, there will be a ban on carrying and burning fireworks in the old town at the turn of the year, said a spokeswoman for the state capital.
In Munich, firecrackers are to be banned again on December 31 within the Mittlerer Ring, in Nuremberg the previous ban zones in the area around the main market and the Kaiserburg will remain in place, according to the city “for the safety of the crowds there and of legally protected buildings”. .
In Regensburg there should be a ban on firecrackers in the old town on New Year’s Eve. A spokeswoman for the city said that the intention was to protect monuments such as the cathedral and sensitive facilities such as old people’s homes and to counteract the “danger of explosives in crowds in the narrow old town”. In Bremen and Hanover, firecrackers should also be banned again in certain areas.
The decision has not yet been made in Hamburg and Frankfurt. And Chemnitz sees no basis for a ban. The city announced that the daily average limit for particulate matter pollution is 50 micrograms per cubic meter, which can be exceeded up to 35 times a year. It would be permissible to exceed the limit on New Year’s Eve because there have been no limit violations this year.
Irrespective of this, the following applies throughout Germany: In the immediate vicinity of churches, hospitals, children’s and old people’s homes and particularly fire-sensitive buildings, no pyrotechnics may be burned, i.e. no firecrackers or rockets may be ignited.
For some, that doesn’t go far enough. The German Environmental Aid is campaigning for an end to private New Year’s Eve fireworks and argues, among other things, with the high level of fine dust pollution from New Year’s Eve firecrackers and rockets, the amount of waste and the burden on animals.
Ban on private fireworks demanded
The police union (GdP) is also in favor of a general ban on the private burning of New Year’s Eve fireworks. Due to the enormous and completely unnecessary production of pollutants and the mountains of garbage on the streets on New Year’s morning, this is a measure that may be painful for many, but makes sense, said GdP national chairman Jochen Kopelke.
This applies all the more in view of the high risk of accidents – especially under the influence of alcohol -, firecracker and rocket attacks on the police, fire brigade and paramedics, damage to property and the stress on many people and animals caused by fireworks.
Kopelke called on the Conference of Interior Ministers and Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to address this issue promptly. It is certainly possible to create the conditions for a comprehensive ban on setting off private fireworks with an amendment to the Explosives Act. Possibly, however, a rethinking would have to start there as well.
The Federal Association of Pyrotechnics, an association of professional and amateur fireworks, argues, however, that a ban on small fireworks in front of one’s own front door or in the garden hardly relieves the hospitals. The majority of injuries in the emergency rooms are due to alcohol consumption and related conflicts. According to the Association of the Pyrotechnic Industry (VPI), sales of around 130 million euros were achieved in 2019.
1500 tons of fine dust on New Year’s Eve
According to the Federal Environment Agency, the burning of fireworks releases around 2050 tons of fine dust every year, 1500 tons of it on New Year’s Eve. The amount corresponds to about one percent of the total amount of fine dust released in Germany per year.
