After the compulsory Corona break, Berlin prepared a New Year's Eve party with an audience at the Brandenburg Gate for the first time on Saturday. According to Visit Berlin, many tourists also flocked to the capital at the turn of the year, so that hotels expected 80 to 90 percent occupancy. However, the fire brigade reported ten missions due to pyrotechnics and several injuries during the day. Hundreds of emergency services were on standby and expected a restless night.

The celebration at the Brandenburg Gate was much smaller than in previous years. For the show under the motto "Celebrate at the Gate" on Pariser Platz you had to book a ticket in advance. With 2500 people, the celebration was fully booked. Nevertheless, the rush at the Brandenburg Gate was already large in the early evening. Numerous visitors had come without a ticket and were looking for admission. The police called for announcements to keep paths clear and pointed out that the party was sold out.

However, ZDF was planning a transfer. At midnight there should be no fireworks, but a light show, as the organizer announced. The program included artists such as Calum Scott, DJ Bobo and the Scorpions.

Before the pandemic, hundreds of thousands sometimes celebrated on the other side of the Brandenburg Gate - towards the Tiergarten. The celebration was considered the largest New Year's Eve party in Germany.

The managing director of the marketing company Visit Berlin, Burkhard Kieker, was nonetheless pleased with the new edition. "I'm glad these pictures are going around the world again," he said on rbb Inforadio. "Because we shouldn't underestimate the effect that has. The Brandenburg Gate as a picture in the background is, I think, the best advertisement for our city."

In addition, there are hundreds or even thousands of events in clubs, restaurants and bars. "Berlin dances on New Year's Eve, and we haven't forgotten that over the past two or three years," said Kieker. He is also positive about the coming year. In terms of tourism, Berlin plays in the league of Paris, London and New York. In addition to the Dutch, Danes and Italians, a particularly large number of Americans came in 2022 - also because of the favorable dollar exchange rate for them.

Everywhere in the city there was already banging on Saturday - even if this was officially only allowed from 6 p.m. on New Year's Eve. On Friday evening there was a police operation on Pallasstraße in Schöneberg for the second evening in a row. There, a group of about 30 people threw pyrotechnics onto the road and also onto police officers, said a police spokeswoman. Five people involved were temporarily arrested. A police officer was slightly injured but remained on duty.

The police have set up a ban on fireworks around Pallasstrasse, as well as at Alexanderplatz and around the prison in Alt-Moabit. Outside these locations, rockets and firecrackers may be legally fired until 6:00 a.m. on New Year's Day. The sale has been running since Thursday. No fireworks have been sold in the past two years due to the pandemic.

At the turn of the year, the Berlin police had 1,100 additional officers on duty. The fire brigade and aid organizations announced that they would be deployed with more than 1,400 people. State fire director Karsten Homrighausen expected the most eventful night of the year. From 7 p.m. the "state of emergency New Year's Eve" should apply. This means that instead of 24 employees, 70 are employed. According to the accident hospital in Berlin, it has also significantly increased its operating capacities.