Occupiers in Lützerath: between wrangling and retreat


report

As of: 01/11/2023 8:06 p.m

Some squatters in Lützerath have chained themselves or entrenched themselves on wooden platforms. They are determined to persevere to the end and save the village in the coalfields. But not everyone wants or can take the pressure.

By Sebastian Tischkov, WDR

Lützerath, 10 a.m. Finally a break from the constant rain – that’s probably the only thing that the police and activists can agree on today. Two fronts face each other in a village that looks like a battlefield even before the evacuation: at the entrance to the village, cobblestones and roof tiles are stacked up, holes have been dug – apparently so that no one can drive in here with heavy equipment.

Nevertheless, the hundreds of police are there, moving in groups through the village. Again and again the activists chant: “Don’t talk to cops”, no contact with the police.

Tomorrow we go back to work

But not everyone sticks to it. Already in the morning, the first activists are escorted outside by emergency services. Completely voluntary, then there are no consequences. The police said this several times via loudspeaker announcements. Two Belgians also feel addressed and allow themselves to be led away without resistance. The couple was against violence, just wanted to set an example. That’s what they would have done with it. Tomorrow they go back to work, they say, taking three bags with their personal belongings. Another activist tells his fellow campaigners that he cannot cope with the emotional burden and is therefore withdrawing.

Things don’t always go so peacefully: When the police move into Lützerath at 8:40 a.m., there are scuffles, but the squatters quickly retreat. Again and again Bengalos are ignited from the roofs. Molotov cocktails and stones are occasionally thrown at the emergency services. Until the afternoon, the police operation was largely peaceful.

Symbolic village of Lützerath

The dispute over “Lützi” has long had symbolic power: Many activists believe that staying in the village is the last chance to still achieve the 1.5-degree target of the Paris climate agreement. Again and again it is calculated that the tons of coal under Lützerath would not be needed at all. The NRW state government sees things differently in view of the energy crisis. The coal phase-out in 2030 is now the central promise of politics – for this Lützerath is the last town that has to be cleared.

If you walk through the village in the Rhenish lignite mining area, you will quickly have seen everything – Lützerath is not big. Seven houses are still standing here, a few trees, the climate activists are filling the rest of the space with self-made wooden structures.

Activists have erected around 25 tree houses in Lützerath, some of them at great heights.

Image: REUTERS

The town center resembles a climbing garden

The town center was converted into a kind of climbing garden so that nobody has to be on the ground – otherwise the danger of being held by emergency services would be too great. And everything else is taken care of: composting toilets, several common rooms and a common kitchen, in which cooking was continued even during the eviction.

Long endurance

Johanna and Janine are standing on a wooden structure at the edge of the village. They are two of the estimated 300 to 400 local activists and only arrived at the beginning of the week. With four layers of clothing and a thick sleeping bag, they try to hold out when the outside temperature is 10 degrees. As long as possible. Janine is 24 and for the first time as an activist at a climate protest.

“The mere will is just not enough to arouse the interest of many people. That’s why I felt I had to come here,” she says. She’s actually studying renewable energies, and there are exams again in February. In case she gets bored, she has her university stuff with her.

The activists in Lützerath move on rope constructions to avoid being grabbed by the police.

Image: REUTERS

Suddenly there was cheering during the conversation – apparently some people are still trying to get to Lützerath via the surrounding fields, although the eviction has long been underway. The police quickly got the situation under control and surrounded the activists.

It gets quieter and quieter in the afternoon. The hard core has holed up in the tree houses to make it as difficult as possible for the police. A hard night is ahead of the squatters – nobody knows how it ends.

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