Berlin expands firework ban zones for New Year’s Eve
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Authorities in Berlin have expanded the size and number of zones in the city where fireworks are banned on New Year’s Eve. Around 3.200 extra police officers will also be on shift this Silvester.
Berlin expands firework ban zones for New Year
The size of areas and number of areas in Berlin where locals are banned from setting off private fireworks this New Year is greater than in previous years, according to a report from rbb. Firework ban zones include areas in and around Alexanderplatz, in Neukölln and Schöneberg, and potentially around Admiralbrücke, between Kreuzberg and Neukölln.
In previous years, firework ban zones have been fenced off and police have guarded the entrance and exit areas. Police will take a different approach in 2025, leaving firework ban zones unfenced but with more officers patrolling the ban zones.
As a result, 3.200 extra police officers will be on shift in Berlin on the night of December 31, bringing the total to around 4.200 officers. Around 1.500 paramedics will also be on shift. Police have said they will keep a close look out for people using blank guns, which can only be used with a so-called “small weapons licence”.
Spranger says states should be able to decide firework bans
Ahead of New Year’s Eve 2025, Interior Minister at the Berlin Senate, Iris Spranger (SPD), called on the federal government to give governments of the federal states the power to implement a state-wide private firework ban.
Such a change requires the federal government to amend part of Germany’s explosives law. Spranger said that she hopes the federal government would make the change in early 2026.
On New Year's Eve 2024, more than 360 people were seriously injured by fireworks in Berlin. Nationwide, at least five people are thought to have died from firework-related injuries last New Year.
The news prompted 27.000 people to sign a petition calling for a nationwide ban on private fireworks during New Year celebrations to come. A nationwide ban was also publicly supported by the GdP police union and the German Medical Association.