Germans march in solidarity with Sea-Watch

3,000 people joined the solidarity rally with Sea-Watch in Germany's port city of Hamburg. The German captain of the Sea-Watch 3 rescue vessel, Carola Rackete, has been charged in Italy for docking her vessel at the port of Lampedusa despite an order from the the government banning new refugees from being allowed on Italian soil.

Despite earning the ire of the Italian government, for many at home Rackete is a hero for saving the lives of asylum-seekers during the dangerous Mediterranean crossing. On top of criticizing Italy's anti-immigrant Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Rackete has also criticized his German counterpart, Horst Seehofer.

Demonstrations were also held in Bonn, Münster, Frankfurt, Oldenburg, Bielefeld, Bremen, and here in Cologne. About 7,000 people attended the Cologne rally in opposition to attempts from nationalist governments to close their ports to rescued migrants.

Seebrücke, or 'Sea-bridge', is the name of the organization that called Saturday's protests. "Seebrücke makes harbors safe," this banner in Cologne declares.

In Munich in Bavaria, the state Interior Minister Horst Seehofer used to be premier of, thousands of citizens demanded Germany support the rescue and safety of refugees. Seehofer has been one of the few in Germany's federal government to take a hard-line immigration stance in recent years.

In Berlin, the demonstrators brought their protest to the doors of the federal Chancellery building. Chancellor Angela Merkel has not weighed in on the plight of Sea-Watch captain Carola Rackete, who is preparing to sue Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini for slander.