The crowd rushed behind the cheap shawarma attacked the police

Police were called to a doner kebab shop in Dortmund in western Germany on Sunday after hundreds of shoppers broke into the premises in hopes of getting a serving of shawarma at a one-off minimum starting price.

The owner of the outlet was forced to call police after he was stunned by the crowd gathered for its opening, writes The Guardian.

The owner said about 1,000 people were present. Police put the figure at about 300.

The owner announced in advance his offer to prepare a barbecue for 1 euro. The average price of a doner – pickled meat baked on a spit, sliced and served with a salad in the form of warm cakes or rolls – is usually between 7.50 and 9 euros.

Until about 2020, the price was between 3.50 and 4 euros. The sharp rise in prices, largely driven by higher energy and food prices, has turned Germany's most popular fast food, which sells more than 1.3 billion a year, into a tangible everyday symbol of the effects of inflation.

The owner hired private security guards to oversee the discovery, but after they stopped coping with the influx of crowds, he was forced to call police when the situation spiraled out of control.

According to a police spokesman, bottles, stones, fireworks, an electric scooter and a chair were thrown at police officers. Reinforcements of about 100 police officers on the ground and a helicopter were called, the Guardian reported.

Dortmund Police Chief Tim Frommayer condemned the incident in a statement. “Anyone who uses violence, in this case against police officers, is not a young man seeking adventure or a troublemaker, but a criminal,” he said.

He accused some participants of preparing to attack police from the outset, calling it part of a pattern of behaviour that has recently been seen at rallies and demonstrations.

Several people were arrested. One of them had a gun that fired blank ammunition. Several people have been charged with public order, damage to property and insult.

Police did not say whether a criminal case would be opened against the store owner. He said he would donate the remaining kebabs to a charity for the homeless in the city.

Doner (Turkish equivalent of Shawarma) is considered a success story of immigrants, as more than 50 years ago Turkish guest workers used it as a snack in the form of cakes. But two years ago, a row broke out between Germany and Turkey when Istanbul asked the European Commission to recognize the term as a “guaranteed traditional dish” across Europe.

Berlin objected and vetoed, saying the statement would create greater bureaucratic hurdles and lead to even greater increases in donor prices due to the introduction of strictly defined production methods and specifications for the meat and spices used and even the types of knives used to butcher it.

The Istanbul-based International Denera Federation formally withdrew its application last fall.