A Protest Camp Closes a Berlin Teaching Complex
A protest camp shut a teaching complex. Berlin also reported how many officers it sent to a separate march, but published no bill for that operation.
Freie Universität Berlin said police dispersed a protest camp on May 7, 2024, after the university requested its evacuation. The university reported damage to fire alarm systems and cancelled teaching in the affected complex for the rest of the day. Libraries and the cafeteria in those buildings also closed. The account documents the university’s response and its stated reasons.
Reading the closure notice
The university identified the Rostlaube, Silberlaube and Holzlaube complex as the affected area. The same-day notice describes closures of services as well as teaching. Its account is direct evidence of the decision to close those facilities. A wider estimate would need reopening dates and records from other institutions.
Police and transport records by country
Local records on effects outside campus
Berlin’s Senate reported 1,336 officer-hours in total for two demonstrations on April 22 and 23, 2022. It said police deployments were covered by the regular budget and expenses were not collected separately. For assemblies related to Israel and Gaza through August 2024, a later response said that deployments and officer-hours were not retrievable automatically. Berlin Police separately reported about 220 officers assigned to a May 11, 2024 march. The staffing figure is a headcount, while the 2022 figure counts hours. Neither measures cash spending.
Berlin Senate answer 19/12014 · Berlin Senate answer 19/20132 · Berlin Police operational report
The second bar shows the reported lower bound. The estimates describe participation, not staffing or expenditure. Berlin Police operational report
Figures and sources
A German district study covering 2008–2019 estimated a positive effect on recorded crime in the earlier subperiod and a negative or statistically insignificant effect in 2015–2019. Its estimates vary across periods and refer to immigrant population shares. The study does not identify effects by religion. Published district study
Germany population and public costs · Public costs and national research