The vehicle with “Stop Globalization Politics” and “You Damn Killers of Children and Old People” graffitied the Aries Gate and did no damage.
A car crashed into the front gate of the building where Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office was located on Wednesday morning, causing minor damage, authorities said. The driver was arrested.
The police investigated the crash, which took place at 10 a.m. (09:00 GMT) in the German law firm in Berlin.
The car, a Volkswagen station wagon, had the slogan “You damned murderer of children and old people” scrawled in white on one side. On the other hand it was said: “Stop the globalization policy.”
Police spokesman Thilo Cablitz told reporters the 54-year-old driver was arrested by the scene after driving into the gate at slow speed and was questioned.
He said the police are investigating whether he is mentally disturbed or for other reasons.
The driver was known to authorities for a similar incident in 2014, a spokesman for the German interior ministry said on Wednesday.
In that incident four years ago, he drove into the same gate at slow speed and did no damage. The car also had a tagline condemning climate change, and the man was taken into custody.
According to reports, the man had previously done something similar.
Merkel’s office said the security gate was only slightly damaged on Wednesday.
“For the chancellor, other members of the federal government and the people employed in the chancellery, there was never a danger,” said her office.
It wasn’t clear if Merkel was inside the building, a white postmodern structure that sits in a square across from the Reichstag building where the German parliament is located and which is far from any major road.
The car had license plates from the West German region of Lippe and was driven away by the Berlin fire brigade, which, apart from a few scratches, showed hardly any signs of damage. The metal door to the office seemed slightly bent.
The office is located in downtown Berlin next to the Swiss embassy and opposite the parliamentary offices. The hit external gate, which is next to a security office in front of the main building, opens onto a public road.
There was no immediate clue as to what sparked the incident, but it came on the day Merkel was due to meet state governors to discuss extending a partial coronavirus shutdown that began Nov. 2.
The government’s approach to slowing the coronavirus pandemic and restrictions have widespread support among most Germans, but have also occasionally sparked violent protests in some large cities.
Journalists film the car that crashed into the main entrance of the Chancellery in Berlin, the office of Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin [Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters]
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