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Five officers were injured during the riots, which started around 3 p.m. local time in the morning (4 pm Lithuanian time), when the police intervened to stop the fighting in the historic Opera Square in Frankfurt, which was attended by about 30 people.
The square has become a popular gathering place for local media, known as “crown festivals”, as there are still no bars or clubs in Germany to slow the spread of the virus.
Around 3,000 people, mostly young people, flooded the square again on Saturday night, and between 500 and 800 people were still in the square when the riots broke out, Frankfurt Police Chief Gerhard Bereswil said at a conference of press.
At the end of the fight, a small group of officers tried to help the injured man, but were attacked by a crowd.
“It is very unpleasant that observers were happy and applauded when the thrown bottles hit my colleagues,” said Bereswill.
Later, more police arrived, dispersing the crowd, although they suffered a “bottle rain.”
A total of 39 people were arrested, including a woman.
The other detainees were young men between the ages of 17 and 21, “most of whom are of migrant origin,” Bereswill added.
Eight people remain in custody and can be charged with public nuisance.
The incident was a reminder of the riots that erupted last month in Stuttgart when police conducted a drug search operation in the city center, where hundreds of people gathered.
The crowd stoned officers with stones and bottles, smashed shop windows, and looted stores. The rage that lasted for hours shocked Germany.
Employees of the German police union and the emergency service have warned government authorities that they face increasing hostility at work.
Tensions have also been increased by the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, where police officers have been accused of racism.
Bereswill said that while most of the night was peaceful, the Frankfurt police noted “increasing aggression” against officials in the morning.
The escalation of the situation early Sunday morning “was an absolutely negative culmination of the incident,” the police chief told reporters.
Several police vehicles and a bus stop were also damaged, causing damage of several thousand euros.
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