Overview

• Police reported about 2,200–2,500 participants in Berlin and a registered 5,000 in Cologne, with several thousand on the streets in both cities.
• Counterprotests formed in both locations; officers twice pushed away attempts to stop the marches, including a brief blockade near Berlin’s Charité clinic.
• The Bundesverband Lebensrecht organized the events, and AfD lawmaker Beatrix von Storch took part in the Berlin march.
• Church leaders signaled support with greetings from Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki and Bishop Georg Bätzing, while prepared signs read “Inklusion beginnt vor der Geburt.”
• Organizers in Cologne invited controversial U.S. activists Caroline Smith and Lauren Handy, and in Berlin a speaker argued abortions should be barred even after rape.