Squatting again in Leipzig: riots on Eisenbahnstrasse

Leipzig. Late on Tuesday evening, another empty house in the east of Leipzig was occupied. The campaign was the second time it was used within a few days.The building on Ludwigstrasse in the Volkmarsdorf district was later cleared and secured by the police.

As authority spokesman Olaf Hoppe explained on Wednesday, several people gathered at Torgauer Platz around 6 p.m. to protest against the police action on Monday against the occupation of a house on Hermann-Liebmann-Straße. This meeting remained peaceful.

By 8 p.m. the crowd had grown to hundreds of people. “The people then began to place garbage cans and other flammable material on the street and then set them on fire,” said Hoppe. In addition, information on social networks had already indicated that a building on Ludwigstrasse had been occupied.

Police request support – residents put out fires

Emergency forces have now been assembled in the district, and helicopter support from the air has also been requested. After pyrotechnics were ignited from the crowd and objects were thrown at emergency services, additional reinforcements had to be called, including officers from Saxony-Anhalt.

Eyewitnesses report that garbage containers and other barricades were pushed onto Ludwigstrasse, Eisenbahnstrasse and Idastrasse. Some residents tried to put out the burning barricades. There was an open dispute on the street. The Leipzig transport company has now rerouted trams on lines 3 and 7.

The protesters published a message on the online portal “Occupy Leipzig” on Tuesday evening in which they placed the occupation of the building on Ludwigstrasse in the context of the evacuation of the previously occupied building on Monday.“We will not simply be evicted or simply shaken off. That is why we have occupied this new house out of solidarity and as a means of pressure and will continue to increase the pressure until we are listened to,” the portal continued.

The same group had already occupied a building on Ludwigstrasse in August 2020 – which was also evacuated by the police a good two weeks later.

Police chief apologizes for late intervention

The new action was now dissolved on Wednesday night. According to police, the barricades were cleared by midnight. “The emergency services followed up on indications of a squat on Ludwigstrasse. No people could be found in the supposedly occupied property,” said police spokesman Hoppe. The security measures continued on Wednesday. The criminal police have now also started investigations into suspected trespassing and trespassing.

No one was injured on Tuesday evening. The fires caused damage to house walls, roads and a vehicle, it said.

Leipzig Police Chief René Demmler responded on Wednesday to the displeasure of residents who had complained about late police intervention. “We were faced with the challenge of acquiring enough emergency personnel in a timely manner due to the prevailing situation and, at the same time, managing around 100 additional operations in the city area as well as in the Leipzig and Northern Saxony districts during this period.”

LVZ