We need to talk about Silvester
How not to have the wrong kind of blast on New Year's Eve
Every year around this time I begin to see the same kinds of posts on social media.
I’m coming to Berlin on New Year’s Eve!
Where should I go?
Is the S-Bahn safe to ride late at night?
Where is the best place to see fireworks?
This always brings to mind the advice I got when we first moved here - which are still the words I live by on Dec. 31:
Be where you plan to stay by 7 p.m. and don’t leave there until after sunrise the next day.
Yes, the S-Bahn is generally safe, even at night. And unlike most nights, the trains will be running frequently all through the night.
It’s everywhere around the S-Bahn that isn’t safe on Silvester.1
Unless you are the kind of person who enjoys throwing incendiary devices at others or having them thrown at you, then I advise watching some fireworks from a balcony or bridge early in the evening and then staying inside (shutters closed, if you have them), for the duration.
Think I am exaggerating?
Here is a short list of highlights from last year:
A seven-year-old boy was critically injured when an illegal firework exploded in front of him. The child spent months in the hospital, underwent several surgeries and will need lifelong monitoring and care due to the amount of scar tissue on his body.
An apartment building in Schöneberg had to be evacuated after a kugelbombe (ball bomb) blew the entire entrance off the front of the building and shattered all of the windows.
An Instagram influencer filmed himself shooting a rocket into the open window of an apartment, setting a child’s bedroom aflame. The child was not in the room at the time and the fire was quickly exstinguished. The thrower, Atallah Younes, spent four months’ in jail and received a six months’ suspended sentence before agreeing to voluntarily leave the country.
In total, there were almost 1,900 fire department calls, 400 arrests and 38 emergency responders were injured, including a police officer who almost bled to death.
And those are just the major incidents. People have thrown firecrackers down subway stairs, into streetcars, and just at random people on the street. The smoke makes the air quality terrible. And the resulting trash strains the city resources even more.
Despite calls by medical associations and the police officers’ union to ban sales of fireworks2 to the public, the Berlin government has refused to do so, arguing that without a nationwide ban, people would just bring them in from the surrounding areas.
Most of the damage, they say, is not caused by the fireworks sold here in stores but by the illegal use of professional-grade explosives that are smuggled in from border countries like Poland and the Czech Republic.
No-fireworks zones
Instead of a sales ban, Berlin is again designating certain areas of the city as ‘fireworks forbidden zones’ (Böllerverbotszonen).
These are: Alexanderplatz in Mitte; the Steinmetzkiez in Schöneberg; the area around the Admiralsbrücke in Kreuzberg; and a section of Sonnenallee and adjacent side streets in Neukölln. The Tagesspiegel has street-level maps here.
I think anyone with basic common sense can see this is a pointless gesture that, if anything, is just going to push the problem into the neighborhoods surrounding the zones.
It would make more sense to do what the neighbors around the damaged building in Schöneberg requested and have the city set aside certain areas, like maybe Templehofer Feld, to allow fireworks to be set off.
This would be much easier to enforce, and not leave the majority of the city feeling as if it were under attack.
When we first moved, I thought a total fireworks ban was overkill. I don’t personlly like fireworks, but it seemed extreme to ban all of them due the behavior of a minority of people. But, the problem has become so severe that city leaders are basically allowing that small group of people to ruin the holiday for a large part of the population.
The mayhem strains police and fire services, and many first responders are injured each year. The smoke and debris harms the environment.
Many residents make plans to leave Berlin entirely that night, specifically because of the firework issue. People with pets have rented hotel rooms near the airport - or plan to spend the night at the airport itself - to get some peace.
We have been able to ride it out with our two dogs by closing our shutters early and putting on some white noise. But it still sounds like World War III has started between 1 and 3 in the morning, and it’s not fun.
Then tomorrow morning, just like every year, we will get together with a group of neighbors to clear the trash from the park around our buildings. Last year, we filled up two dumpsters and several more bags with leftover tubes, cardboard boxes, and tiny exploded plastic bits.
Still want to be in Berlin on New Year’s Eve?
There are still lots of ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve safely in Berlin. The official celebration at Brandenburger Tor is sold out, as are many club events. But there are still more available for intrepid visitors to the city.
Check out the guide below from The Next Day Berlin or the one at TipBerlin for details.
But in keeping with my advice above, I would minimize the time I spent moving around the streets and transit during the evening. And be super aware of your surroundings.
Good luck to everyone! Stay safe! And have a pleasant slide into 2026!
December 31 is the saint’s day for St. Silvester (also spelled, Sylvester), who was pope from 314 to 335, during the time of Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion. He was later canonized. In Germany, New Year’s Eve is just known as Silvester.
German law has four categories for legal fireworks: F1 - things like small spinning tops, snap tops, and sparklers; F2 - firecrackers, small rockets, and battery fireworks (groups of tubes with multiple shots); F3 and F4 - medium and large professional-grade fireworks. F1 fireworks are allowed to be used all year and can be purchased by children and teenagers. F2 fireworks can only be purchased by people aged 18 and up and only between Dec. 29 and January 1. F3 and F4 fireworks are only legally used by professionals during an authorized fireworks demonstration.