Internal security | Defeat for black and red in Berlin: “Görli” remains open

The Berlin Administrative Court has decided in an expedited procedure that Görlitzer Park can initially remain open at night again. Photo: Christophe Gateau/dpa The “Görli” in Kreuzberg remains open at night. The Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court (OVG) dismissed a complaint from the Senate Department for the Environment against a decision by the administrative court in an expedited procedure, a spokesman announced.

The Senate has thus suffered another defeat in the dispute over the night-time closure of Görlitz Park. However, this is not a final decision; it will come later in the main proceedings.

At the beginning of June, the administrative court ruled that the “general decree” with which the Senate Environment Administration had set the opening times was formally illegal. The Senate was not technically responsible, but rather the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district office. The OVG agreed with this view. A change in the legal situation was only made in July 2024 - and therefore too late. According to the court, the decision is unappealable.

Residents and members of the “Görli zaunfrei!” alliance initially successfully defended themselves against the actions of Black and Red, which justified the closure in 2023 with an alleged increase in crime in the park during the night hours.

The plaintiffs doubt that this is true. Their position is supported by a criminological report from Roland Hefendehl, professor at the Institute for Criminology and Commercial Criminal Law at the University of Freiburg. It states that there is no sufficient evidence of a particular level of crime at night. The police statistics also do not support the Berlin Senate's assumption: between October 2024 and August 2025, 835 crimes were recorded in Görlitzer Park, of which only 216 occurred during the closure period. In addition, a large proportion of the crimes recorded are so-called control crimes, which are only noticed when the police check people.

Police figures show no significant decrease in crimes in the park area during the period of temporary closure of the park from March to May.

The “Görli zaunfrei!” alliance is calling on politicians to finally abandon plans to close the park at night. The incumbent Senate and all those responsible should use the decision as an opportunity to question their policies, the initiative said.

»It is high time to end the populist sham battles. The social conflicts on site are real. But you need sustainable solutions instead of symbolic politics,” said Philipp Vergin from the alliance. There was initially no statement from the Senate Environmental Administration.

“As the Görli zaunfrei Alliance, we have worked with numerous residents and social organizations to develop a concept for dealing with social conflicts in and around Görlitzer Park and we expect the new Senate and the coalition supporting it to finally come up with sustainable and functioning solutions,” says David Kiefer on behalf of the alliance.

The lawyer David Werdermann explains: "The Higher Administrative Court makes it clear: The Senate grossly illegally ignored the district actually responsible and thus exceeded its authority." Berliners have a right to use the park - even at night.

The court ruling wants to celebrate “Görli zaunfrei” in the park on Thursday from 7 p.m. and on Saturday from 5 p.m. “Guys, we won!” writes the initiative on social media. “Simply sunk two million,” commented one user. The Berlin Senate invested around 1.74 million euros in building the fence.

In addition to residents and the “Görli zaunfrei” alliance, the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district led by the Greens is also against the closure of the park and is also taking legal action against the Senate’s intervention. However, he unsuccessfully defended himself against the measures in urgent proceedings.

In the urgent procedure in 2024, the judges saw “no right of defense” for the district against the intervention and the Senate’s decision. It is said that it is not an independent community, but rather performs tasks as a subordinate part of the unified community of Berlin. with dpa

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