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Fireworks Drive Severe New Year Particle Surges Across Germany as Frankfurt Police Probe Holiday Violence

Wind kept daily fine-dust averages in Hesse below legal limits according to state measurements.

Overview

  • Monitoring data show extreme short-term PM spikes, led by Munich’s Landshuter Allee at 1,458 µg/m³, with high values also reported in Duisburg-Walsum (385) and Essen-Gladbecker Straße (377) against an EU daily limit of 50 µg/m³.
  • UBA maps indicate generally higher New Year pollution in southern cities such as Munich, Lindau, Tübingen, Reutlingen, Kehl and Freiburg, with parts of Bremen and Hamburg also elevated.
  • Hesse’s environmental office reported brief peaks around 310–330 µg/m³ in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden and Offenbach that subsided quickly, leaving daily means below exceedance thresholds.
  • Frankfurt authorities are processing 73 arrests from the night, with investigations focusing on multiple attacks on police and rescue workers including a blocked and damaged ambulance and an assault on a medic.
  • Preliminary VKU clean-up figures show declining New Year waste in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, but a 7.3% rise in Frankfurt to 44 tonnes, with broader municipal totals still to come.