The carnival procession and storming of the town hall in Beuel went off peacefully. “Until 3.30pm everything was very quiet, just like in previous years. And then the fighting started,” reported police spokesman Frank Piontek on Thursday evening. But as the parties had not yet finished, this could only be his preliminary assessment of the day.

As announced, the Bonn police force cracked down on trouble makers. Up to 8.15pm 51 reprimands was issued under their jurisdiction and 12 people were taken into custody. “Whoever causes trouble was told to either go home, or come with us” said Piontek. Bonn police had already prohibited 64 people from attending the festivities. One man did not keep to this order and was fined 500 Euro. Piontek explained that up until the evening two charges of bodily harm, two drug offences and five accounts of resisting arrest were also brought by police officials.

The weather was one reason for the quieter streets. They were literally empty. Rain and strong winds forced the carnival goers from the Beuel town hall into the pubs and function rooms. Accordingly, it was quiet for the Bonn fire brigade and rescue services. The control centre recorded a slight increase in the number of call outs for emergency doctors and paramedics.

The fire brigade was called out twice due to the stormy weather. One of these was to Muffendorf where a tree fell down. But the carnival revellers in Beuel beat the gale and remained unharmed during their storming. (Original text: Bettina Köhl. Translation: Caroline Payne)