The Berlin police have banned the protest concert planned for Thursday on the A100. This was shared by the organizers of the campaign against the further construction of the city motorway, the group “Lebenlaute. Classical Music – Political Action” on Monday morning.
“We received the written order from the police on Friday afternoon. After that, the concert on the A100 is prohibited,” said Hans Christoph Stoodt, spokesman for Lebenslaute. In the police decision, which is available to the Tagesspiegel, the authority refers to the “risk forecast” that would be associated with an event on the A100 at the planned time.
The spokeswoman for the group, Viola Forte, said that further steps were reserved against the police decision. “The fact that a Berlin authority is proceeding in this way sheds significant light on their claim that they are critical of the construction of this climate-damaging motorway. We’ll have to take matters into our own hands.”
The citizens’ initiative A100 also criticized the actions of the police. “The ease of road traffic is given higher weight than the right of assembly,” said spokeswoman Briti Beneke.
The organizers announced that after the ban the concert would be held “if necessary on another city freeway in Berlin”.
The press office of the Berlin police was initially unable to confirm a ban on the event on Monday when asked. The entry for the action is also still available in the list of registered events on the police website.
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The group had planned to hold a protest concert on the already operational section of the city motorway at 4.30pm Thursday afternoon in protest at the extension of the A100. The time and place were deliberately chosen: according to the organizers, the aim was to draw maximum attention to the event during the afternoon rush hour.
Around 100 musicians wanted to protest in this way under the motto “making music instead of concreting”. It was planned to perform compositions by Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert and Rio Reiser.
Instead of on the A100, the concert could now take place on the A103 at the Saarstrasse exit. The Berlin police have at least approved this location as an alternative location for the demonstration, according to the notification.
The appearance should be part of the week of action against the construction of the Autobahn, which runs until Friday, August 5th. Already on August 2nd, the action group invites you to a pre-concert in the Kreuzberg Taborkirche.
