In the capital Berlin alone, 600 fines have already been issued against climate protection demonstrators for actions such as road blockades. There are 2,200 criminal charges, police chief Barbara Slowik told the German Press Agency.
In just under a year, the activists in Berlin blocked streets in 276 cases. In addition, there were 42 other actions, some of which were criminal, by mid-December.
Berlin is one of the focal points of the Last Generation group, which wants to use its actions to draw attention to the worsening climate change and demands more decisive countermeasures. To this end, the demonstrators block roads and intersections, some of which they stick to. They also demonstrated on the runways of airports. Some also stuck to pictures in museums. In Potsdam they threw mashed potatoes at a painting. In Berlin, just before Christmas, they sawed off the top of the Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate.
Activists wanted to disrupt worship
In Stuttgart, according to the police, climate activists planned on Christmas Eve to disrupt a Christmas service broadcast live on ARD television. The plan was known to the authorities beforehand. That is why the service in the Church of the Resurrection in Stuttgart-Möhringen was recorded the day before. At noon on Christmas Eve, eight activists from the Last Generation group found only a closed church. The parish office called the police.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann sharply criticized the planned action. The FDP politician wrote on Twitter that anyone who wanted to storm a church service at Christmas to promote political goals could no longer be helped. "So you don't find any supporters, only opponents." The group is a pity for serious climate protection.
Steinmeier: Don't damage the cause of climate protection
In his Christmas speech, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for young and old to work together to combat climate change. Both the ambition of the young and the experience of the old would be needed. "Because we all have a common goal: that the younger ones are not the 'last generation', but the first generation of a climate-friendly world." The younger ones should be critical - "without harming the cause of climate protection by antagonizing others," said Steinmeier.
Berlin's police chief Slowik told the dpa that in the capital 220,000 emergency service hours were counted by officials on the subject. That is an extreme effort - when observing neuralgic traffic junctions and buildings, detaching demonstrators who have been glued on, blocking off intersections and diverting traffic. In addition, there is the working time for investigations, prosecution of criminal and administrative offenses and fine proceedings.
