Overview
- North Rhine-Westphalia is deploying 7,600 officers statewide, with böller‑free zones in city centers such as Cologne’s Innenstadt and Düsseldorf’s Altstadt and Rhinefront.
- Berlin plans 4,300 police and 1,600 fire service staff on duty, has seized more than 100,000 Category 4 fireworks in the run‑up, and reinstated several no‑fireworks areas including Alexanderplatz and parts of Neukölln and Kreuzberg.
- Hospitals and rescue services have reinforced rosters, with the Bavarian Red Cross expecting ambulance dispatches roughly every 14 seconds at midnight.
- Brandenburg’s Interior Ministry posted a fictional death notice to deter illegal fireworks use, drawing both criticism and support; the ministry defended the tactic as a hard‑hitting safety message.
- Police are investigating a Dec. 30 shooting in central Düsseldorf that left one person seriously injured, while a same‑night house fire in Michelau led to 11 evacuations with no reported injuries and was likely a kitchen smoulder.