Berlin braces itself for the worse in view of protests from opponents and supporters of the right-wing populists

Deutsche Welle reports  that thousands of supporters and detractors of the right-wing populists will confront one another in the German capital on Sunday. The situation is sure to be tense, and no one is ruling out violence.

The far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party hopes to attract as many as 10,000 supporters to Berlin’s main train station on Sunday. From there they plan to march a little over one kilometre to the western side of Brandenburg Gate.

An alliance of AfD opponents, including politicians, migrant-advocacy groups, theaters, dance clubs, gay and lesbian groups, trade unions and Berlin party people, have vowed to turn out in even greater numbers and prevent the right-wing populist march.

As the week drew to a close, anti-AfD activists had applied for permits for at least thirteen counter-demonstrations and other events.

The largest of them is scheduled to take place in front of the Reichstag, more or less directly across the river from the train station. Another demonstration is planning to march to the eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate.