For the first time after two years of the pandemic, the people of Frankfurt were able to celebrate New Year's Eve without restrictions. There was a great rush on the banks of the Main. Fireworks and firecrackers were also used in abundance.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa / lhe) - Hundreds of Frankfurters welcomed the new year on the banks of the Main. Well before midnight, fireworks rose into the sky, on the Main, on the Römerberg and in the city center firecrackers banged. After two pandemic years with restrictions and conditions, the revelers in the Main metropolis literally let it rip. The police were initially unable to quantify how many were celebrating in the open air.
At 11 p.m., the police blocked the "Eiserner Steg" pedestrian bridge, where many revelers traditionally watch the New Year's Eve fireworks in front of the Frankfurt skyline. "It would just be too dangerous to let more people onto the bridge," said a police spokesman.
A security area had been set up at the Iron Bridge and the two upstream bridgeheads. It was forbidden to carry and set off fireworks there in order to avoid injuries to the crowded people.
Among the many revelers there were also some who kept the New Year's Eve rituals they loved from the pandemic years: Three couples from Bad Vilbel dined in the open air on camping chairs on Frankfurt's Römerberg, the festive menu had been brought in a handcart. At midnight, after dessert, the waltz was to be danced again on the Old Bridge. "Of course we could now go back to a restaurant or to a big party," they said. "But we had so much fun last year - that's why we're back."
The police were on the road with numerous emergency services in the city area. Larger incidents have not become known in the evening. However, there were reports from some parts of the city that fireworks had been aimed at other people. Such incidents occurred on the Zeil shopping street, among other places, and the police responded promptly. "New Year's Eve is already over for them," said the police spokesman. However, there were also unintentional "misses" when firework batteries were knocked over by the wind and changed their flight direction.
Already in the afternoon, with spring-like temperatures, hundreds of people in the bars and cafés of the old town, on the Römerberg and on the Main got in the mood for the last night of the year. The mulled wine stands that were still there were left behind, as most people thought a cool summer drink would be more suitable for the last day of the year at around 16 degrees.
For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, there have also been no contact-restricting regulations in the Main metropolis, and fireworks were also largely permitted.
