On Monday morning, climate protectors blocked the Autobahn exits in Berlin again. Among other things, the A100 city motorway towards Wedding on Spandauer Damm and south on Kaiserdamm Süd as well as the A111 towards the city center on Saatwinkler Damm are affected, as the traffic information center (VIZ) announced on Twitter.
A total of about 80 people are said to have taken to the streets. There was a traffic jam. The police were on duty and quickly cleared most of the blockades. It was not yet clear whether and how many people were arrested.
According to the police, the actions affected nine exits or nearby intersections. A single-digit number of demonstrators took part in each case.
According to the police, motorway exits in many parts of the city in the north, west and south of Berlin such as Tegeler Weg, Sachsendamm, Beusselstraße, Siemensdamm, Saatwinkler Damm, Spandauer Damm, Messe Nord and Süd, Konstanzer Straße, Seestraße, Wexstraße and Oberlandstraße have been affected since around 8.30 a.m.
Demonstrators from the Last Generation group posted photos on Twitter showing blockers holding banners sitting on the street in the rain.
In a statement, the group wrote that 60 activists blocked the A100 in eleven places on Monday morning. With the peaceful protest, they called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to refrain from drilling for oil in the North Sea. “Saving oil instead of drilling” can be achieved, for example, by permanently free local public transport and a speed limit, it said.
The activists had previously announced blockades. “Far more people than before” are now to take part in the actions and make the autobahns “a place of peaceful resistance,” it said.
The 45-year-old activist Sonja Manderbach was quoted as saying in a statement on Monday that they were “determined to go to prison for the lives of our children.” If climate and society collapse, unimaginable suffering and death await children.
“We still have 3 years to avert the collapse of our climate,” said co-initiator Henning Jeschke. According to his own statements, the 22-year-old had already taken part in a hunger strike for climate protection last year, which lasted 27 days.
In an open letter to the federal government, “Last Generation” called for more immediate action to be taken to combat climate change. In order to enforce this, a public disturbance by interrupting everyday life is needed.
In January and February, according to the police, the initiative in Berlin blocked 45 freeway exits with seated and taped demonstrators. This was followed by blockades at airports and the port of Hamburg.
In March, the actions were interrupted, later resumed. This led to more than 270 criminal charges and around 120 charges of administrative offenses in Berlin. In the meantime, the police have a mid-three-digit number of investigations, mostly due to coercion and resistance to police officers.
