Riots in Berlin - Attempt of a Summary

Whenever May 1st draws near the residents in Berlin are in a mood of expectation.
Will this day remain peaceful? It hasn't been since 1987. That year the first "Revolutionäre 1. Mai Demo" (revolutionary may 1st rally)was held. This is what followed: barricades, stones, burning cars, pillaged shops on the one hand.... teargas, batons, water cannons on the other hand.

Intensity has varied over the years, so have the strategies employed by the police. This year, a mixed strategy of deescalation and zero tolerance of violence was attempted.

While the Walpurgisnacht (the night before May 1st) went relatively peaceful (many arrests, many injuries but only light ones) things heated up the next day.

I am not going to give you a detailed account because I wasn't there.
On the fringes of a NPD rally (right wing extremists) violence occurred in the afternoon between skinheads, left wing radicals and the police. 55 arrests.

Later that day, a festival was held in Kreuzberg which should promote non-violence. That worked till about 8pm.

Then the usual (sad) thing happened: radicals erected and burned barricades, attacked the police force with bottles and stones and this was met by watercannons and teargas.

The police acted swiftly and struck hard.

Overall, comments suggest that this year was better than expected.

Sidenote: Again lots of teens were there for the fun. Witnesses often saw people hooding and afterwards photographing themselves with their cell phones. Also, this year some anti-american resentments could be seen as at least in one occasion an American flag was burnt.