St.Moritz banned it completly and replaced it with a droneshow
3
A happy new year to all, from the Big Apple!
1
Fireworks are a great way to let loose and blow off steam once a year. There is something primordial about it like a bonfire,a connection to more primitive times. The danger is real adding to the trill.For a youngster lighting the fuse the first time a sort of right of passage.
Having one day a year like this provides an outlet of inclinations that would likely manifest in other ways. Something to look forward to the 364 days a year of going about in civilized orderly fashion.
Adds to societal cohesion in a primitive but real way. imo.
1
I live in Switzerland, where we get fireworks on Silvester AND on August 1. I usually spend the celebration with my cats who are so afraid of the explosions that they pant in fear. Many years ago, my mother-in-law's dog was so terrrifed by the noise that he scratched through a linoleum floor. The kids often shoot off firecrackers in the afternoon, and our old Tigi (deceased at age 19) would already get into a panic in the afternoon, knowing it was going to be a bad night. A colony of bats lives in our roof, and I remember once watching the panicked animals flying home to escape the noise. Two summers ago, fireworks were outlawed on August 1 due to a drought. It was wonderful.
Think of the animals!
6
Growing up in Germany, the Sylvester fireworks (and, once a teenager, the partys on that day) were always an annual highlight. It is a moment when Germans–or rather German men–let go of the constraints of bourgeois society to celebrate a few hours of primitive liberation. The entire night constitutes a breakdown of social order that most Americans cannot imagine.
Nowadays, however, I must agree with those calling for a ban. Once I reached my late 20s, I no longer enjoyed the festivities, but rather became disenchanted by the astonishing amount of vomiting drunkards, broken bottles, and general disregard for the safety of fellow humans. The suffering of both domesticated and wild animals is truly shocking. Sure, I do feel a bit hypocritical for depriving the youth of the same fun I enjoyed two decades ago. But for the sake of humanity, the measure enacted by public authorities as outlined in this article are absolutely reasonable.
13
Are they going to do away with dropping bits of lead (sic!) in water to tell the future, too?!?
1
Lead has been banned already. But I'm longing for an end to the noisy madness of private fireworks.
2
Tell me they’re keeping Dinner for One, though!
3
I live in Neukölln in the midst of the Silvester madness in Berlin. It's unbelievable how many fireworks are let off. It's like there are 1000s Chinese New Year's dragons walking down below you simultaneously. By about 2.30am most people have used up their load of explosives and you can try to sleep. The smoke is the worse aspect. Usually there isn't much wind and it's like a fine white fog everywhere for hours. It's a really joyful way to start in the New Year.
4
The Germans always are ahead of the curve
3
Some people think they have the right to make things go bang or boom whenever or wherever they want.
Stationed with the US Army in the early 1980s in Augsburg, (West) Germany, climbing up a hill on 31Dec to witness one of those most incredible fireworks displays I've ever seen as the whole view from one edge of my peripheral vision to the other edge was filled chockablock with fireworks exploding above the city skyline. The world is an ever changing environment and somethings have to change with it, or else.
4
How sad. Fireworks are so joyous and beautiful.
4
We still have our "Feuerzangenbowle", the traditional fire tongs punch. And either a carb or a cheese fondue, and lead-pouring. And a bottle of champagne at midnight.
We are not so soon running out of traditions to honor.
9
To be honest I could really do without the fireworks. Unless you’ve experienced it first It’s hard to imagine how insane it is here! One year we went to Paris and it was like, quiet, ahhhh heaven
Good riddance New Years Eve
16
Growing up in Berlin, Silvester was always a horror.
Loud with no hope of escaping hundreds of fireworks, and leaving its dense smoke everywhere -- it was impossible to breathe or think, let alone celebrate.
Not enough schnapps in the world could drown out that noise.
Good luck trying to put an end to it.
Won't happen.
11
@N. Smith In Berlin-Mitte at the moment. It happened. Quiet as a summer eve....
Maybe we should ban all volcanoes whose sheer volume of particulates is paltry compared to firework festivities! More progress from do nothing but complain liberals!
5
Wondering if anyone remembers New Years Eve 2011 in Beebe, Arkansas when professional grade fireworks set off near a nighttime roost of Red Winged Blackbirds killed 5,000 of the creatures? And, wondering if anyone reading this article has volunteered at an animal shelter the day after fireworks to help clean up the sad mess caused by lost, confused pet dogs and cats who have fled their homes in a panic from the noise? I find the noise, pollution and cruelty of fireworks to the animals around us unbearable. Of course, if anyone hints at the idea of putting restrictions on fireworks they will be subject to the usual whining and boo-hooing of people who think their rights are being trampled upon . In my state, laws on fireworks were loosened several years ago , and the ensuing backyard ‘celebrations’ are truly out of control on certain holidays, lasting for hours on end. My heart goes out to people with PTSD . Most humans seem incapable of adjusting their behavior to help stem the tide of pollution, noise and general idiocy around fireworks, but maybe it will work in Germany . Good luck to them.
18
Rules mean nothing in this city. Littering is illegal. Graffiti is illegal. Drug trafficking is illegal. Urinating on the street or in train stations is illegal. Running red lights and speeding is illegal. Smoking in bars and restaurants is illegal. All these bans are ignored universally and with impunity. Nobody cares, because there is absolutely no enforcement.
I very much doubt that even one piece of fireworks will remain unlit just because there's now a rule against it.
6
Drones at night,
flying with lights,
coordinated by an app,,
amazing.
Examples are now on Youtube...
3
I am sure that many of my right wing friends will take this as yet another manifestation of the creeping nanny state. Another way to see it is as one of many adjustments we need to make if we are to preserve any human life in an era of runaway population growth. Foregoing fireworks is a small step compared to the more important goals of eliminating diesel cars, forbidding burning of agricultural fields in India, and swapping coalfired electric plants for renewables. Even these changes are easy compared to the coming resettlement of all those fleeing rising oceans, whether from Florida or Bangladesh.
14
@networthy The imposition of heavily bureaucratized forms of identification as a preliminary to voting, the dumping from the voter rolls of those who have not voted in recent elections, the charging of heavy fees for basic government bureaucratic functions to begin with. Then huge tax breaks for the wealthiest while taxing those with paychecks, the suspending of limits on pollution by the biggest polluters, the continuing approving of pesticides that damage humans and the environment, the selling out of America's wilderness to greedy exploiters, etc. etc. etc.
1
@WHM Part of the problem is the "left's" willingness to conflate issues for whatever their particular political purpose is. Particulate emissions are not at all the same as CO2 emissions. There is no meaningful evidence that particulates in Western countries are a significant threat. If we were in Beijing or Mumbai, there would be a much better logical chain. Alas, there is none in this instance. It's an issue of triage as much as anything. Behind its green veneer, Germany is still fairly reliant on coal power (they have agreed to phase them out over the next 20 years). Perhaps the main focus should be on accelerating the switchover from coal; then we can address the sticky "Silvester Schwierigkeit." And this is not to single out Germany, the left in the US is more guilty of this than anywhere (e.g. plastic straws and shopping bag taxes).
1