Tens of thousands plan to take to the streets in the central German town of Giessen on Saturday to oppose the founding of a new youth organisation by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Municipal authorities and the police expect up to 50 000 participants at around 30 registered demonstrations, rallies and vigils at the university town of some 90 000 inhabitants, a third of whom are students.
A police spokesperson told DPA on Saturday morning that several participants were already moving through the city.
The authorities had previously warned of possible traffic disruptions at Giessen and the surrounding area due to the incoming groups.
The protesting Widersetzen (Resist) alliance also announced that it will block access routes to the founding meeting with the aim of preventing it from taking place.
The AfD wants to establish a successor organisation to the now disbanded Young Alternative (JA) called ‘Generation Germany’.
The JA was dissolved following a party conference decision in March, after it was listed as extremist by the federal intelligence agency.
The new organisation is to be headed by Jean-Pascal Hohm, a politician from the state of Brandenburg, where the state-level domestic intelligence agency has listed him as a “confirmed right-wing extremist”.
The police and interior minister of the state of Hesse, Roman Poseck, said they are preparing for a “challenging large-scale situation” in Giessen, partly because calls for violence from the left-wing scene were circulating in advance.
Several thousand police officers from Hesse and 14 other federal states, as well as federal police forces, are expected to be on duty. – DPA via Nampa
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