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New Year's Eve chaos in Cologne: Police arrest 29 revelers and secure five knives!
Leverkusen and Cologne police took stock after New Year's Eve 2025/26: emergency services were called upon in several incidents.
New Year's Eve chaos in Cologne: Police arrest 29 revelers and secure five knives!
On New Year's Eve 2025/26, several hundred police officers were on duty in Cologne and Leverkusen to ensure order during the celebrations. Just before midnight, numerous people flocked to popular places such as the Rhine promenade, the Cologne rings and the Zülpicher district. But after the turn of the year, the number of revelers dropped rapidly, prompting the police to monitor the situation more closely.
By 6 a.m., emergency services in both cities had issued a total of 86 expulsions and taken 29 people into custody. Investigations were initiated into cases of bodily harm, damage to property, resistance to law enforcement officers and even sexual harassment. The use of five seized knives was also worrying, which further aggravated the already tense situation. The police were also active in the area of road traffic: over 40 drivers were checked, and four of them had to surrender their driving licenses immediately because they were under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, as reported by lokalklick.eu.
Chaos and conflict
The incidents that characterized New Year's Eve in Cologne and Leverkusen were partly alarming. In Cologne-Mülheim, shortly before midnight, a group was reported shooting at cars with a blank gun. Police identified a suspect who was arrested with the weapon. If the police think the worst is already over, there is a risk of further escalation: around 12:20 a.m., a man fired fireworks at emergency services on the Hohenzollernring and was taken into custody.
But the arguments never ended; At 1 a.m., young people in the Görlinger Center in Bocklemünd deliberately threw pyrotechnics at the police. Two 14-year-olds were identified and handed over to their legal guardians, according to express.de.
There was also a lot going on in Leverkusen. At around 2.15 a.m. the police were called to a burning garbage can in Rheindorf, where the patrolling officers were attacked by unknown people with fireworks and a blank gun. When they returned to their patrol car, the police discovered that the front and rear windows and exterior mirrors had been vandalized. Fortunately, the officers were uninjured, although the level of violence that night was worrying.
Traffic offenses and injuries
The evening was not only marked by violent clashes. At around 5 a.m., a 25-year-old driver tried to evade control, which led to an accident. Here too, everything indicated that he was under the influence of drugs. A little later, a fight was reported, which led to another incident at around 4 a.m. An aggressive man had to be taken into police custody, while two people suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital.
The police will present a detailed crime report in the coming days, announced for January 8th. It remains to be seen whether these alarming incidents in Cologne and Leverkusen represent isolated cases or whether they are a worrying trend that calls for a comprehensive analysis, similar to this tagesspiegel.de has already determined for other cities.