• Situation "stable" according to the police:

    With a massive contingent, the police have begun to clear the town of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area, which is occupied by climate activists.

    Scuffles ensued.

    According to the police, Molotov cocktails, stones and pyrotechnics were occasionally thrown at the officers.

    However, according to observers, the officials did not meet the very massive resistance that had been feared when they were deployed on Wednesday morning.

    After about two hours, the police described the situation as "stable".

    The emergency services cordoned off the entire area.

    Police officers could begin removing barricades and taking activists outside across the site.

    The clearance is intended to create the basis for the energy company RWE to be able to mine the lignite lying beneath the site for power generation.



  • Small children in Lützerath:

     According to the police, there are also families with small children among the occupiers of the lignite town of Lützerath.

    The emergency services criticized this and called on the parents to act.

    "Due to far-reaching dangers in the operational area, the #Police #Aachen appeals to the legal guardians to leave the area immediately with their children," the officials wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

    The police are helping to escort families safely off the premises.

    In a postscript, the emergency services emphasized without further explanation: "The responsible youth welfare office is on site and takes care of it."



  • Activists throw stones and pyrotechnics:

    According to the police, stones and pyrotechnics were thrown in the direction of the emergency services during the evacuation of Lützerath.

    Molotov cocktails were also used.

    "Stop throwing Molotov cocktails immediately.

    Behave peacefully and non-violently!” the police wrote on Twitter.



  • Barricades and human chains:

     Climate activists involved in the protests reported using barricades and human chains to resist the ongoing eviction.

    The so-called action ticker Lützerath reported that the police had penetrated far into the village and had already reached the activists' tent area.

    In an action known as a "counterattack", a dozen people blocked access to the opencast mine near Jackerath.

    Accordingly, activists abseiled from an old highway bridge across the street.

    The police's main access to their logistics warehouse in the opencast mine is said to be blocked.

    Despite the police's request to leave the lignite town of Lützerath, the activists want to keep the village occupied.

    "People are determined to stay, to endure, to protect the trees and the buildings,"



  • Protest with piano and chants:

    When police officers with protective shields, helmets and in full gear came to the occupied lignite town of Lützerath on Wednesday, piano sounds, prayers and spiritual chants could also be heard.

    An activist sat at an old piano in the middle of the rain and played.

    Others had gathered around a cross, praying and singing "Wonderfully protected by good powers".

    An activist sat high up in a tree house and played the guitar.



  • RWE had announced fence

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    :

    The energy company RWE had previously announced that the first thing to do would be to build a one-and-a-half kilometer fence around the town.

    "It marks the company's own construction site, where the remaining buildings, ancillary facilities, roads and canals of the former settlement will be dismantled over the next few weeks.

    In addition, trees and bushes will be removed,” wrote the group.

    "The company regrets that the upcoming dismantling can only take place with extensive police protection and that opponents of the opencast mine are calling for illegal disruptive actions and also criminal offenses." to save, argued RWE.

    The activists deny that.