Rammstein will play in Munich on New Year’s Eve

The snap decision of local authorities to allow the concert comes with conditions – the band needs to provide a safety concept for 145,000 people

This week, Bavarian authorities announced that Rammstein have been approved to hold a New Year’s Eve concert in the state capital of Munich. The German band, however, insisted that the concert be open air, and held on the Theresienwiese, a huge open space in the city, where Octoberfest usually takes place.

The problem, however, was that local and state authorities had expressed their safety concerns about the concert. This is because on New Year’s Eve local law enforcement would be overwhelmed, as many events are set to take place simultaneously around the city.

Furthermore, as Br24 reports, the band estimates that the concert would bring in around 145,000 people. Additionally, as pointed out, Theresienwiese is a location that has never hosted events of this scale, so providing a robust and reliable security concept is key to the approval process.

Boosting Munich as a tourist destination

Munich is one of the most famous German cities, especially around Christmas. One of the biggest events is the Christmas Market (Christkindlmarkt), which brings in around three million visitors every year. In addition, the Munich market is considered to be the original and first Christmas market, with other cities gradually adopting the tradition.

The Christmas market in Munich was cancelled for the last two years due to COVID-19, with last year’s health authorities reporting some of the highest case numbers since the pandemic began.

Additionally, Theresienwiese is usually the home of the Tollwood Festival, often referred to as the ‘alternative Christmas market’. Instead of sausages and wine, for the past 22 years, the festival has hosted a range of organic foods, contemporary dance, theatre and music.

The festival was set to take place between 24 November and 31 December, with the last night being a New Year’s gala event, however, it is unclear what would happen with the event now.

Tollwood organisers have said that it would be completely impossible for the two events to share the venue, just because the noise from the Rammstein concert would completely drown out the calm atmosphere of the Tallwood gala.