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Woolly hats banned for Hamburg police

Hamburg’s police chief has banned his officers from wearing woolly hats, even when out on patrol in sub-zero temperatures – because it does not go with their uniforms.

Published: 10 January 2009 11:00 CET
Woolly hats banned for Hamburg police
Photo: DPA

A row has blown up over the ruling from Werner Jantosch, limiting officers to wearing their peaked caps, even though these do not cover their ears.

He has even taken to checking newspaper photos of officers at accidents or other incidents to see who is sneaking a warm woolly over their ears while on duty, according to the Hamburger Morgenpost.

A newspaper photograph of an officer who was wearing a woolly hat while attending an accident in the Eppendorf area of the city led to a ticking off for the officer, the paper reports.

A spokesman for the police said no disciplinary measures would be taken against woolly hat rebels, but the police union is furious that the 5,000 officers have to break the rules to keep their ears warm.

Colleagues in Munich, Berlin, Hanover and Kiel have plain black woolly hats as part of their uniforms, a union spokesman told the paper. Those in Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein even have fancy models with a police shield and the word police sewn on.

But in Hamburg, only those on duty guarding endangered buildings such as consulates, have special permission to wear warm hats.

Joachim Lenders, head of the German Police Union told the paper, “The position of the police chief is not only embarrassing – the health of his officers must take priority.

“But perhaps sitting at his desk in his well-heated police headquarters, he cannot imagine that in temperatures like we have now, it is freezing when one is several hours on foot in the streets.”

Jantosch would only say, “This has been decided. We do not want knitted hats.”

He reminded reporters of the attempt, during the 1980s, to kit out officers with a Russian-style winter hat made of fake fur, which was rejected by practically all officers.

PROTESTS

FACT CHECK: Are foreign language protests really forbidden in Germany?

After a group of Irish protestors were told by Berlin police to stop singing songs in Gaelic while they held a pro-Palestine event, The Local looks at whether foreign language protests are really outlawed in Germany's capital.

Published: 24 April 2024 14:48 CEST
FACT CHECK: Are foreign language protests really forbidden in Germany?

Around 40 Irish activists and Berlin residents were attending a ‘conversation circle’ in solidarity with Palestine on Friday last week – in which songs and conversations were had in Irish (Gaelic) language – when police arrived and told them to stop and disperse, according to the Irish Independent.

Police on the scene explained that only German, English and sometimes Arabic language could be used in protest. They cited concerns that banned speech, such as speeches or chants glorifying violence, could be used in foreign languages and noted that they didn’t have an Irish translator.

An Instagram post by a group called Irish Bloc Berlin, which describes itself as a “Berlin-based platform for solidarity with Palestine”, called the move unjust and unconstitutional.

On the platform they also posted select speeches made at the demonstration with English subtitles: “Myself and my friends from Ireland are here today to show our solidarity with Palestine and stand against genocide…” began a comment by a protestor identified as Aodhán. He added: “We also stand against the brutal and shameful repression of the Palestine Solidarity movement by the police.”

Ireland is known to be home to a relatively high number of people who express sympathy for Palestine, partly because many Irish people see similarities between the British colonisation of Ireland and Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine.

The Irish protest came a week after German authorities shut down the co-called “Palestine Congress”, just an hour after it began. The event was planned to be a three day event in support of Palestine held in front of the Bundestag.

An Irish woman named Caoimhe McAllister, who attended the protest, told the Irish Independent the action was intended “to highlight what we see as a really worrying human rights concern”. 

McAllister added that she had witnessed police cracking down on Arabic speakers during protests, including at least one arrest. Her group wanted to show how unfair it is to outlaw a particular language for use of protest: “We just had to highlight this by speaking in Irish”.

Are language bans legal in Germany?

Asked for clarification on whether foreign language protests were allowed in Germany, a Berlin police spokesperson told The Local that they “decide on restrictions for assemblies on a case-by-case basis”.

The Irish protest took place within a protest camp which has been stationed in the sculpture park west of Heinrich-von-Gagern-Straße since April 8th. This particular camp is subject to the restriction that speeches can only be given in German and English and, at certain times, in Arabic, according to the Berlin Police.

The police spokesperson added: “In addition to this restriction, the assembly leader was informed on the occasion of the rally on April 19th that no exclamations or chants in Hebrew or Gaelic may take place. This decision is based on the Berlin Freedom of Assembly Act.”

In this case, the Berlin Police say that their own risk forecast suggested that “the assembly could lead to speeches or chants glorifying violence with potentially criminal content”, and therefore police officers on the scene needed the ability to hear what was being said so that they could enforce restrictions imposed on banned speech, like speech that incites violence, for example.

“For some languages, this is only possible with an interpreter. As there was no interpreter available for Hebrew and Gaelic in this case, it was only possible to act in advance with appropriate restrictions,” the police said.

Police powers are devolved in Germany, meaning that law enforcement is constitutionally vested solely with the states, so the way foreign language protests are treated may be different in other parts of the country.

Following the reconstruction, after WWII, Germany has gained a largely positive reputation for its commitment to protect freedom of speech and the right to protest. 

A key exception to this is banned speech, which in Germany includes: speech that incites hatred against people based on their racial, national, religious or ethnic background and insults that assault people based on those same factors.

But following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, and the steady rise of pro-Palestine activism in response to Israel’s war of retaliation that has killed more than 30,000 civilians, activists and civil rights organisations alike are beginning to question if Germany’s speech restrictions are being applied fairly.

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Civil rights in decline in Germany?

In a recent report by global civil society alliance CIVICUS, the state of civic space in Germany was downgraded. 

CIVICUS Monitor researchers documented German authorities breaking up pro-Palestinian protests in late 2023 with excessive force — deploying pepper spray and water cannons and arresting hundreds.

The CIVICUS notes that German authorities have also used disproportionate measures against the Last Generation climate movement, including raids on homes, seizing bank accounts and blocking websites in response to non-violent civil disobedience.

“Germany used to be one of the most free countries in Europe…” said Tara Petrović, CIVICUS Monitor’s Europe and Central Asia researcher.

“Germany’s downgrade should be a wake-up call for the country and continent to change course.”

The CIVICUS report notes Berlin and Frankfurt specifically, as places where authorities banned pro-Palestinian protests.

“The German authorities’ actions against activists exercising legitimate rights to association and peaceful assembly are not conducive to a democratic state,” said Petrović. 

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