On Thursday morning, activists from the environmental movement “Extinction Rebellion” colored several fountains in Munich green with the fluorescent water dye uranine. With this action, the climate activists want to draw attention to the acute catastrophe of species extinction and especially insect extinction. “Extinction Rebellion” accuses the Bavarian state government of inaction.
The police are investigating property damage. The wells need to be pumped out and cleaned, said a spokeswoman. There was also graffiti that had to be removed. The amount of damage is still unknown and there have been no arrests. According to police, around ten wells were affected.
The water from the fountains on Karlstrasse, the Wittelsbacher and Neptune fountains, the Father Rhine fountain, the fountains at Prinzregentenplatz and Rindermarkt as well as the fish fountain on Marienplatz were colored with the dye, which according to the activists is harmless.
The group calls on the Deputy Prime Minister and State Minister for Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy, Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) and Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) to take immediate action and ban pesticides and factory farming in Bavaria. “We want to keep our beautiful Bavaria with its excellent beer and high-quality agricultural products the way we are used to and love it,” said the climate activists.
Environmental activists had already walked through downtown Munich in a funeral procession on Wednesday. On Biodiversity Day, the participants dressed in black walked with a coffin from Sendlinger Tor to Odeonsplatz, where the protest ended with a rally. With this campaign, the activists wanted to draw attention to the fact that, according to scientific findings, a million species are threatened with extinction and that one species disappears every hour.