There are still a few weeks until the turn of the year, but some are already planning the festival. Will there be more firecrackers to hear and colorful rockets to be seen this year?
Berlin – Sparkling rockets and loud firecrackers at midnight are for many on New Year’s Eve.
In order to avoid injuries and not to further burden the hospitals, which were already required in the corona pandemic, the federal and state governments had agreed on a sales ban for 2020. In many places, old fireworks were also not allowed to be set off. Cities and municipalities are now hoping for a New Year’s Eve 2021 without a general ban on fireworks.
“We speak out against blanket bans on New Year’s Eve fireworks,” said Marc Elxnat from the German Association of Towns and Municipalities of the German Press Agency. “The topic has a multitude of aspects – on the one hand the potential gatherings and celebrations, the risk of injury, on the other hand, in the environmental area, the emissions that arise. One would then also have to consider whether more central fireworks would be held instead. “
No fireworks 2020/21
Last year, at the turn of the year, it was much quieter in Germany than usual: Because of the corona pandemic, no fireworks in the F2 category were allowed to be sold, i.e. no classic New Year’s fireworks such as rockets, bangers or batteries. Fireworks that were already in existence were not allowed to be set off on many busy streets and squares – cities and municipalities determined which places those were. In the middle of the winter lockdown, exit and contact restrictions also applied.
“So far we have not seen any political efforts to generally limit fireworks this year, but of course that has to do with the current coalition negotiations at the federal level,” said Elxnat. “According to our observation, on site you are still at the discussion level and see how the situation is developing.”
In Munich, for example, no fireworks were allowed to be set off in the pedestrian zone between Marienplatz and Stachus and on Viktualienmarkt. According to the city, it is still unclear whether something similar should apply in 2021 – also because it is still open “which regulations will apply to New Year’s Eve celebrations in public spaces” when the current Corona regulation expires.
In Berlin, pyrotechnics were already banned in 2019 on the busy Alexanderplatz, among other places. The Interior Senator wanted to prevent excesses. Because of the pandemic, fireworks were also banned in 54 other locations in the capital in 2020. A spokesman for the interior administration said that decisions on whether and which prohibited zones exist this year have not yet been made.
The city of Bonn went even further in 2020: Böllern was forbidden in public space throughout the city. In Frankfurt am Main, fireworks were banned in many parts of the city. Here, too, it is not yet clear what will apply this year.
Desire to celebrate
After a year and a half of the pandemic, many people want to “have a big party again”, is the observation of Elxnat from the Association of Towns and Municipalities. “Whether there are bans also depends on local initiatives that offer alternatives.”
He does not see a sales ban like 2020 coming: “The sales ban was justified with the epidemic situation of national scope and a possible overload of the hospitals. Should the “emergency” expire on November 25th, as can be heard from the acting Federal Minister of Health, that would of course no longer be an argument in favor of a complete ban. “
Environmentalists have been calling for a ban on firecrackers for years. “Private New Year’s Eve fireworks and firecrackers are harmful to health and out of date,” says Jürgen Resch, Federal Managing Director of Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The environmental organization is campaigning for a legal change that should enable municipalities to designate “extended restricted areas for pyrotechnics that encompass the entire city area”. On the New Year 2020/2021, the fine dust levels fell sharply, there was also less garbage, noise and injuries.
Facts have already been created elsewhere: in Amsterdam, for example, firecrackers and rockets will be taboo in the future, the Dutch capital wants to organize fireworks shows in several central locations instead. dpa
