Climate activists paralyze the port of Hamburg – protest against LNG terminals
Criticism of capitalism plus the demand for more climate protection – several action alliances in Hamburg wanted to score points with this
Source: dpa/Bodo Marks
“Today we are blocking fossil capitalism,” said a spokeswoman for the radical environmentalists of “Ende Gelände”. Several hundred demonstrators blocked the rails of the container terminal in the port of Hamburg, an important transhipment point for oil and coal. Clashes ensued.
BClashes broke out on Saturday during the blockades by climate activists in Hamburg. According to the police, participants in a blockade on the Kattwyk Bridge attacked the officers with pepper spray, to which they responded with pepper spray, batons and water cannons to break up the blockade. A spokeswoman for “Ende Gelände” described the incident as “a new peak in police violence and arbitrariness against our climate protests”. The activists wrote on Twitter in the evening that the pepper spray had come from the police at the beginning.
“Ende Gelände” has announced actions “against the expansion of fossil infrastructure and colonial economic structures” for the entire weekend. The activists – including Luisa Neubauer – protested above all against planned LNG terminals, which are intended to secure Germany’s energy supply with gas. Many wore white overalls, corona face masks and baseball caps. According to “Ende Gelände”, more than 1,000 activists have been involved in the blockades since midday.
They also blocked the Köhlbrand Bridge and the Hamburg Port Authority’s railway tracks in the Hausbruch district. According to them, they obstructed freight traffic in the entire port area. “We are blocking a central hub of German foreign trade here to point out the consequences of modern colonialism,” said a statement from the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion about the occupation of the bridge at noon.
Climate activists and participants in the climate camp start a demonstration with flags and banners from the Volkspark to the port of Hamburg
Source: dpa/Bodo Marks
Climate activists have occupied platforms in the port of Hamburg in protest
Source: dpa/Markus Scholz
Climate activists at a demonstration on the Köhlbrandbrücke
Source: dpa/Daniel Bockwoldt
According to the police, the other blockades were peacefully resolved. The emergency services found identities on Saturday, issued several long-term residence bans and took some people into custody, according to the police report from the late evening. 1,400 officials from Hamburg and eight other federal states were therefore deployed.
Demonstrators stuck to the tracks at the port of Hamburg
A total of five elevators were announced for the day in the Hanseatic city. Around 2,000 people set off from the Altonaer Volkspark during a large demonstration in the morning. Her motto: “Against LNG, colonialism and extractivism – sink fossil capitalism!” The organization’s spokeswoman “End of story, nothing to add‘ said: ‘The big oil and gas companies are profiteers from the crisis. While rising prices and fossil fuel inflation put many people at risk of poverty, the oil and gas industry is making billions in profits.”
Although the Elbphilharmonie was originally planned as the destination of the first major demo, according to the police, the organizer ended the elevator at an intermediate rally at Altona station. Hundreds of participants went from there towards the south of Hamburg. According to the police, some had put on disguises – and took them off at the request of the officers.
After that there was an elevator with the tenor: “Clean gas is a dirty lie”, the police continued – with about 450 participants. Around 150 people suddenly got out of it and stuck to the tracks on the railway line in the port of Hamburg.
At a meeting with the tenor “Against coal and oil – stop neocolonial extractivism!” around 550 people demonstrated peacefully. The blockade at the Kattwykbrücke developed from one of the other elevators.
The left-wing coalition “… all around!” announced blockade actions as early as the morning. Among other things, there were calls to specifically interrupt supply chains in the port of Hamburg, the group said. One wanted to “take the protest to the port of Hamburg, because it is not only a symbolic place, but also a neuralgic point of capitalism,” said a spokeswoman.