The hamlet, located on the edge of the Garzweiler coal mine, in the Rhenish basin, has been occupied since 2020 by climate activists.
by Cécile Boutelet (Berlin, Correspondence)
The last hours of the area to be defended from Lützerath, in Rhineland-du-Nord-Westphalia, sounded. Wednesday 11 in the morning, police began a large evacuation operation of this hamlet emptied of its original inhabitants, but occupied since 2020 by activists who block the advance of the excavators of the Lignite Open Lignite mine of Garzweiler, nearby. Lützerath, promised to destruction, has become a high place to gather activists from the climate cause across the Rhine. Several hundred were present on Wednesday morning to oppose resistance to the a thousand police officers dispatched by the region to evacuate the premises. Aix-la-Chapelle police director Dirk Weinspach said the operation could take up to four weeks.
Images, available thanks to the many media on site on Wednesday, show large human channels that slow down the police. Cranes have been mobilized to dislodge the activists from the height wood installations in which they took refuge: huts in the trees connected to each other by cables, constructions at the top of the last agricultural buildings of the hamlet, or even “tripods”, sorts of pyramids formed of three high wooden bars at the top of which the young protesters hang themselves thanks to a harness.
At the end of the day, the police drawn a satisfied assessment of the first day of the intervention. “After a mixed start of the morning, where we saw jets of Molotov stones and cocktails, the situation was clearly calmed, said a spokesperson. We mostly salute the fact that a large number of activists have decided to leave the area peacefully and without defending ourselves. We have attended here mostly peaceful protests. “But the evacuation is still far from over, many activists remaining on the spot.
It had been months since the occupants of Lützerath were preparing for the “day X”, the one where the assault against the camp would be given. During the world visit on site, on November 11, 2022, these new residents of the hamlet led to climbing the trees in anticipation of an intervention during the winter, the only period when it is authorized to cut trees in Germany. “We can only peacefully slow the progress of the police, but we will do it as long as possible,” said Alma, a Frenchwoman present for two years in Lützerath.
In addition to the physical resistance of activists, the opposition to the assault of the police is also moral. A large demonstration must be held, Saturday, January 14, in the vicinity of the village. Several environmental associations will be present, including Greenpeace and the Friday for future movement, as well as its instigator, the famous Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
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