Daily Berlin news update: Friday, October 30

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Restaurants in lockdown legal challenge, Berlin to implement federal measures

Hundreds of bar and restaurant owners are set to mount legal challenges against the forthcoming lockdown, which threatens many of Berlin’s gastronomy businesses with closure. Lawyer Niko Härting, who earlier this month successfully represented restaurateurs in lawsuits against the city’s curfew, said yesterday that he had already received 200 requests for assistance. "In the past 48 hours we have been flooded with calls and emails," Härting said in comments reported in the Tagesspiegel. The lawyer believes that the new Covid measures, which were agreed by federal and state governments on Wednesday and only allow restaurants to open for takeaways, can be overturned on the basis of constitutionality and proportionality.

The fightback comes as the Senat agreed to fully implement the controversial lockdown arrangements as set out by the federal government. The news that Berlin will introduce the measures in their entirety was announced last night by mayor Michael Müller after a special session of the Senat. The issue is to be debated at a special session of the House of Representatives on Sunday before the lockdown comes into force on Monday. Get an overview of the new rules here.

Bomb planted by lockdown opponent, intensive care capacity approaches limit

Last weekend an explosive device planted by an opponent of the Covid-19 measures detonated on a Berlin street, it has emerged. Witnesses heard a muffled bang at around 9.30am on Sunday when the homemade device exploded on Invalidenstraße in Mitte, according to a report in Der Spiegel yesterday. No one was injured. Investigators found a letter by the device calling for the withdrawal of the Corona restrictions, the resignation of the German government and new elections, and threatened further action if these demands were not met. Why the incident was only made public yesterday remains unclear. Members of the public with any information are being urged to contact police. 

Planned operations are to be postponed as Berlin’s hospitals approach the limits of their intensive care capacity. On Thursday, only 153 ICU beds – 12 percent of the city's capacity – remained free. With the number of serious Covid-19 cases doubling every ten days, soon only 10 percent of total beds will remain at hospitals’ disposal. Doctors say urgent countermeasures will be required when this threshold is reached to ensure continued care for coronavirus patients. In Berlin currently 156 patients are being treated for the virus in intensive care, twice as many as on October 18.

Hermannplatz protest against French cartoons, Flixbus suspends services, demonstrations planned following Polish abortion ruling

Demonstrators gathered at Neukölln’s Hermannplatz yesterday, reportedly in protest against islamophobia and the publishing of controversial cartoons in France. The protest came on the same day as a suspected Islamist extremist stabbing in Nice that left three people dead, which itself followed a similar attack in Paris earlier this month which saw the beheading of a teacher. Thursday’s demonstration featured written signs referring to the Prophet Mohammed, a figure whose depiction is linked to the violence in France. According to the police, around 150 people took part in Thursday’s demonstration, though one participant denied press reports that Islamists were present at the gathering. "We do not stand for murders or attacks," they told the Tagespiegel. 

Flixbus has announced the suspension of all its coach services following Germany’s ban on non-essential domestic travel. Both the company’s long-distance buses and train operator Flixtrain will cease to operate from November 3. Strict lockdown measures mean demand for travel is expected to plummet further. Throughout November, overnight stays in Germany’s hotels and guesthouses are prohibited, with only essential business or family-related travel permitted. 

Protestors are to take to the streets this weekend to demonstrate against a Polish court’s decision to extend a ban on abortion. On Saturday protestors are set to gather outside a Polish church in Kreuzberg at 5pm, with a second demonstration planned on Sunday at 5pm in Volkspark Friedrichshain. The decision last week by the constitutional tribunal in Poland ruled abortion in the case of foetal defects to be “unconstitutional”, meaning abortion will only be permissible in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s health.