By Vincent Cziesla, Unsere Zeit, September 8, 2025
“We beat them up so badly today that they no longer demonstrate afterwards,” said a police officer in the presence of a demonstrator.
What kind of concept were the Cologne police pursuing when officers stormed into the “anti-military parade” organized by the “Rheinmetall Disarm” alliance last Saturday and injured 147 participants – 18 of them so seriously that they had to be treated in hospital? There were clues to this question on site: “We’re beating them up so badly today that they won’t be demonstrating afterwards,” said a police officer in the presence of a demonstrator.
The “Rheinmetall Disarm” demonstration had joined up with a gathering organized by the Cologne Peace Forum shortly beforehand. Around 3,000 people had come to protest against the planned “war capability”, conscription and armament. They were met by a contingent of 1,600 police officers with water cannons and armored personnel carriers. The assembly was harassed and delayed from the outset. But the provocations were unsuccessful. So the state provided the – apparently desired – escalation. Using batons, punches and pepper spray, the officers attacked a previously separated section of the demonstrators, encircled hundreds of them for hours and forced the assembly to disperse.
“The police denied people emergency medical treatment, physically assaulted our lawyer, arrested members of the press who were present and at times denied the detained people access to drink and toilets,” commented Luca Hirsch from the “Rheinmetall Disarm” alliance. Eyewitnesses reported violence against minors and paramedics as well as unconscious people in the kettle. Lisa Schubert (“Die Linke”), a member of the Bundestag who was present as a parliamentary observer, was also attacked when she tried to mediate, according to unanimous statements.
The parade was to be the highlight of the “Rheinmetall Disarm” protest camp held in Cologne the week before. The camp was a thorn in the side of the authorities early on – but the prohibition order issued by the Cologne police was overturned in court. The police took revenge for the legal defeat.
The plan to deny legitimacy to anti-militarist protests also failed. Apparently surprised that their own actions were questioned at all, the Cologne police became entangled in their own public relations work. In a press release on Sunday morning, the authorities justified their actions by stating, among other things, that “participants wore masks, set off pots of smoke and donned protective weapons”. In a further press release on the following day, the smoke pots were no longer an issue; instead, the officers had now identified “telescopic iron bars” and observed “people dressed in black” who had disappeared “under a large flag”. This account was supplemented by the usual claim that there had been attacks on the police and twelve injured officers (four of whom were incapacitated).
Following an inquiry from UZ, however, the authorities’ desire to provide information came to an abrupt end. By the time this issue of UZ went to press, the Cologne police had not responded to the questions of how they explained the unusually high number of injured demonstrators, whether there was an order to deny paramedics access and how many minors were taken into custody.
Which orders led to the escalation in Cologne remains unclear for the time being. What is certain is that there are enough actors in German politics who want to create a climate in which opponents of the war are intimidated. But the Cologne cauldron has failed to achieve its goal. The mobilization for upcoming peace demonstrations is in full swing – now more than ever! Solidarity is unbroken, and “Rheinmetall Disarm” has already made a promise to the city of Cologne: “We’ll be back!”
