On 13 January, starting at around 12 noon, most of the large companies in Berlin stopped working; these include, for example, AEG, Siemens, Daimler and Knorr-Bremse.
The workers moved to the inner city on Königsplatz in front of the Reichstag, but many only came to the adjacent side streets due to the crowds.
[2] Conversely, the police fought back with the pistol blows of their carbines; but individual officers were reprimanded by their superiors for these actions.
As a result of a massive disturbance by the USPD faction, Fehrenbach had to interrupt the meeting at 3:48 p.m. MPs who were now watching the tumult on the Königsplatz from the windows of the Reichstag were threatened with revolvers by excited demonstrators.
According to this, around 4:00 p.m. demonstrators tried to enter the building, whereupon the Sipo on Königsplatz opened fire and threw hand grenades at the rally participants.
Almost all the dead and injured were found south of the Reichstag, on the opposite sidewalk and in the adjacent zoo, according to reports from various sides.
After the shots broke out the crowd fled in panic, the Sipo fired several more minutes with their rifles and machine guns.
Only a tiny minority supported the request, but stormy protests by the USPD led to another interruption at 4:37 p.m. After the reopening at 5:09 p.m. Fehrenbach, who had now taken note of the fatalities, closed the trial at 5:11 p.m.
After the riot, a total exclusion zone for demonstrations was declared around the immediate vicinity of the Reichstag (the Bannmeile Decree), which still remains in force.