Overview
- Berlin police plan a 4,300‑officer deployment for New Year’s Eve, have seized more than 147,000 firework items in advance, and will enforce several no‑pyrotechnics zones.
- Munich’s 800‑meter Silvestermeile on Ludwigstraße is being set up as a ticketed laser, light and video event running from 19:00 to about 01:30, with tickets still available.
- Local restrictions are expanding, including Bamberg’s added time‑limited ban at Am Kranen alongside existing prohibitions in the Altstadt, Altenburg and Michaelsberg, and multiple NRW cities designating firework‑free areas.
- New hospital research details severe harm from private fireworks, with the Leipzig series finding 46.5% of patients left with lasting impairments and national data showing hundreds of eye injuries each New Year.
- Conservationists and insurers warn of acute risks this week, noting early illegal blasting that distresses animals and forecasting up to about 1,000 car fires nationwide after a year of sharply higher imports.