The G20 summit is currently being held in my city, Hamburg, Germany.
It's a meeting of 20 of the biggest and most influential nations that come together to discuss difficult topics and world problems.
It seems like the whole world is looking at Hamburg right now, so I'll share how this event had an impact on the city and its people!
The G20 summit in numbers
- 19,000 policemen from all over germany were summoned to work in Hamburg this weekend. There has never been a bigger police operation in hamburg! The German police has been preparing for the G20 summit since over 1 year, and every police officer in germany (whether stationed in Hamburg or not) had to work on july 7 + 8 and help with the preparations .
- Almost 10.000 hotel rooms have been booked in Hamburg, occupied by the various politicians and their security, press teams, advisors, etc. The saudi-arabian representatives for example have come with a team of several hundred people, and even brought some camels so that the Sheikh can enjoy fresh camel milk even in Germany.
- 15 Tonnes of food are prepared at the main venue for the summit!
- The retail industry in Hamburg is expecting losses of € 15 Million, since many shops are closed and hardly anybody will go shopping this weekend.
- The demonstrations against the summit have caused unimaginable chaos, 200 policemen have been injured on july 7 alone, and over 100 protesters have been arrested.
July 6 - Exceptional circumstances in the streets of hamburg
The summit itself happens on july 7 and 8, but the chaos in Hamburg already started on thursday, july 6th.
Since thousands of politicans from all over the world arrived in Hamburg, the police blocked countless roads around the airport and the city center.
Like I already mentioned above, over 19.000 policemen from all over the country are stationed in Hamburg, and they took their job very seriously - they blocked roads all around the city center, the summit venue, and the location of the largest hotels.
Most citizens were already expecting some traffic, but no one was prepared for what was about to happen: Almost the complete city stood still, most main roads around the city center were completely blocked off, resulting in an unimaginable traffic jam.
People were literally stuck in their cars for hours, and many of them ended up just parking their car somewhere along the road and walking the rest of their journey.
July 7 - G20 day 1: Brutal demonstrations and vandalism
The summit really began yesterday, on july 7.
While the politicians and representatives spent the day congress center in Hamburg, thousands of protesters were getting ready for their anti-G20 demonstrations.
The left-radicals were masked and gathered in certain areas around the city - citizens were advised not to leave the house.
In the evening, the situation escalated completely:
The protesters were breaking into countless shops by crashing the glass front, they were pillaging, lighting up cars and barricades, and attacking the police. They fought back with water guns and tear gas.
The speaker from the Hamburg Police stated that they had "never seen such an extent of Hate and Violence."
Today, July 8 is the last day of the G20 summit. Will the situation escalate once again?
Many people speculated that saturday, the last day of the summit, will be the worst in terms of protest and violence.
We'll see how the situation will evolve!
That's why I decided not to be in the country during these eventful days - I'm off to the sun!
I'd rather be enjoying the sun and this stunning view than being back in Germany where all the chaos is going on..
© Sirwinchester