The preparations for the evacuation have been completed since Tuesday and the necessary logistics have been set up. As the responsible police headquarters in Aachen explained, police forces surrounded the place. Hundreds of police officers have already entered the town.
The police asked the activists to leave the lignite site in the morning: “You can now leave the area here without any further consequences for you.” You are prohibited from staying and entering the area specified therein in and around the location of Lützerath.
First clashes
Climate activists in Lützerath, on the other hand, stated that they wanted to hinder the operation with human chains and barricades, among other things. According to reporters, the first scuffles between police officers and activists have already started, and according to the police, stones and pyrotechnics are said to have been thrown in the direction of the emergency services.
Molotov cocktails were also said to have been used. “Stop throwing Molotov cocktails immediately. Behave peacefully and non-violently!” the police wrote on Twitter. In addition, objects were thrown from a house in the direction of the emergency services, as reported by a dpa reporter.
ORF analysis of the situation in Lützerath
ORF correspondent Andreas Pfeifer reports from the German village of Lützerath.
RWE warns squatters against violence
The German energy company RWE had previously called on the squatters to be non-violent. “Violence against the police or deployed employees is completely unacceptable,” the utility said in a statement released Wednesday morning.
RWE is calling on the squatters to respect the rule of law and peacefully end the illegal occupation of the houses, facilities and areas belonging to RWE. “No one should put themselves in danger by doing something that breaks the law.”
Village as a symbol for climate protection
RWE wants to demolish the village in order to be able to mine the lignite beneath the village. Climate protection groups who are occupying the village are protesting against the plans. Lützerath has become a symbol of the anti-coal movement.
RWE pointed out that coal mining was necessary in order to operate the lignite-fired power plants at high capacity and thus save gas in electricity generation in Germany. Experts doubt this claim.
mining instead of settlement
The originally almost 100 inhabitants of the small town have all been resettled. As RWE explained, the dismantling of the settlement is to begin on Wednesday and it will then “be used for mining”.
As one of the first measures, a construction fence a good one and a half kilometers long will be erected “for safety reasons”. “It marks the company’s own construction site, where the remaining buildings, ancillary facilities, roads and canals of the former settlement will be dismantled in the next few weeks.” Trees and bushes would also be removed. The nearby Garzweiler opencast mine could then begin excavating the lignite for power generation in the region’s power plants under the former site.
