The clearing of the Fechenheimer forest has started, but rests overnight. There are still people in tree houses. So far, the police have said it was a peaceful operation.
The police began clearing the Fechenheimer forest in the east of Frankfurt early on Wednesday morning, and the action was interrupted as dusk fell in the evening. The eviction is expected to continue Thursday morning.
According to their own statements, the police cleared six tree houses on the first day of operations. Three preliminary investigations and 18 administrative offense proceedings were initiated. Ten people were taken into custody, but some were released again after the police measures. There were no injuries, and overall the police spoke of a “consistently peaceful” operation.
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Fechenheimer forest is cleared
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There are still five to ten activists in the forest who want to spend the night in the tree houses that are still standing. “We have thick sleeping bags, warm tea and food,” an activist explained to HR.
Live ticker for the police operation in the Fechenheim forest
In our ticker we keep you up to date on the current events in the Fechenheim Forest in the east of Frankfurt.
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Several activists have been in tree houses in the forest that is to be cleared for the expansion of the A66 for months. The police assumed a low double-digit number of activists.
Task forces from all Hessian headquarters and the federal police were on site on Wednesday. The aim of the operation is clear: the opponents of the expansion should leave the forest so that the federal Autobahn GmbH can cut down the trees and create two construction roads on the area. Parallel to the operation, clearing has already begun on the edges of the site.
The police had said in the morning that everyone who was still in the forest had been addressed. They were also repeatedly given the opportunity to leave the forest voluntarily. If the expansion opponents refused to go, emergency services should bring them out of the forest. “The police claim is that no one is injured during the operation – no opponent of expansion, no police officer, no uninvolved citizen,” emphasized the police.
The environmental activists had previously reiterated their resistance. “You’re going to have a hard time with this eviction,” they said. They wanted to keep the forest occupied for as long as possible. To do this, they erected tree houses in the oaks and beeches, some 25 meters high, and stretched ropes. “We feel compelled to defend the forest with our bodies,” the activists said.
State chairmen of the left taken out of the tree house
The police used high-altitude forces to get the activists out of the tree houses. The state chairman of the left, Jakob Migenda, was also carried out of the forest. Migenda had been protesting in a tree house since Tuesday. “I’m part of the activists in the Fechenheim Forest who are committed to preserving the valuable natural space that is to be sacrificed for a pointless motorway,” he explained.
Because of the police operation, a section of the A66 between Maintal-Dörnigheim and Frankfurt-Bergen-Enkheim was closed, as was Borsigallee in the direction of Hessen-Center. However, subways and buses ran there.
The continued construction of the A66 and its connection to the A661 through the planned Riederwald tunnel have been among the long-running political issues in Hesse’s largest city since the mid-1980s. So far, the A66 coming from Fulda has ended a good two kilometers before the A661. According to Autobahn GmbH West, traffic therefore flows through the east of the city and often leads to traffic jams, noise and air pollution.
Rhein urges non-violence
Prime Minister Boris Rhein and Interior Minister Peter Beuth (both CDU) also came to the forest on Wednesday morning. Rhein thanked the police for their work. The operation was “politically heated”, but absolutely necessary for the implementation of the “democratic order”. At the same time, he appealed to the activists to leave the forest and not to defy the instructions. “Peaceful protests are not only permissible in our country, they are encouraged,” he emphasized. “I have the impression that things are very peaceful and level-headed here.”
Court stay failed
Efforts by environmentalists to get the eviction postponed through the courts had previously failed. On Tuesday, the Administrative Court (VGH) in Kassel rejected an urgent application from Naturefriends Germany, in which a postponement of the planned clearing work was demanded. The objection of a forest squatter had already been rejected by the Frankfurt Administrative Court (VG) on Monday. On Wednesday, the activist also failed before the VGH. He had also filed an urgent application against the eviction of the police, which was also rejected by the Frankfurt Administrative Court on Wednesday.
According to the motorway company, about 2.2 hectares of forest have to be felled for the construction of the more than one kilometer long Riederwald tunnel with two tubes. That’s about the size of three soccer fields. Another half hectare of forest will remain temporarily as a habitat for the protected long-horned beetle.
According to the state of Hesse, around 12,000 young trees were planted in 2018 in the Schwanheim district in western Frankfurt to compensate. The construction time for the tunnel is estimated at around eight years, the project should be completed in 2031.
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