New Year's Eve in Cologne: Police balance shows brutal attacks on civil servants!

On January 1, 2025, the Cologne police took a mixed balance after the New Year's Eve. A large police operation with several hundred officials was carried out to protect the celebrants. Numerous incidents occurred, including targeted attacks on emergency services. The ban on firecrackers on the banks of the old town was not controllable, and rockets and bright bodies were shot into the crowd. The following measures were taken until New Year's morning at 5:30 a.m.

- 62 references.
- 30 people taken in custody.
- 57 missions due to improper use of fireworks.
- three police officers injured by firecrackers.
- Four knives. Three administrative offenses due to traffic violations.
-Before the turn of the year, several thousand young people gathered on the Franconian shipyard who triggered uncontrolled firecrackers.
-An incident occurred at 1 a.m. There were targeted attacks with fireworks rockets and firecrackers. A suspicious, about 1.90 meters tall, in early 20, with black beard and beanie hat, Böller threw against an injured police officer.

injured emergency services and investigations

at 0.30 a.m. a police officer at the Hohenzollernring was slightly injured by a bright body throw. Another firecracker at the Görlinger Center met an official on the knee who had to be taken to the hospital. In all cases, criminal investigations were initiated for dangerous bodily harm. A detailed police balance from the police is planned for Monday, January 6th.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, the turn of the year was mostly peaceful according to the police. Tens of thousands of people celebrated on the streets without major incidents. However, there was a fatal misfortune in Geseke, where a 24-year-old died after the explosion of a fiery works that was probably not approved. In Duisburg, a man was seriously injured when a firecracker exploded in his hand, and in Bocholt a person suffered the most serious injuries from fireworks. An incident was worrying in which young people fired a New Year's Eve rocket on a sleeping homeless at Bonn Central Station; The suspects were identified.

The fire brigade often moved out due to fires caused by fireworks. In Duisburg, a forbidden firecracker destroyed parts of a restaurant, and the investigation was running. Attacks with pyrotechnics on emergency services were reported in several districts of Cologne, in which three police officers were injured. Firefighters were also thrown at rockets and firecrackers in Gelsenkirchen and Leverkusen. A 24-year-old was taken into custody in Hagen after threw a patrol car with firecrackers. The fireplace zones in Cologne and Düsseldorf were only partially respected, with 148 registered violations in Düsseldorf, where the police confiscated over 2,500 fireworks. Some cities, including Essen, Duisburg and Dortmund, waived local firecrackers, while mobile video surveillance was set up on New Year's hotspots in Essen and Duisburg. The ignition of pyrotechnics near churches, hospitals and nursing and children's homes is prohibited nationwide.