Long traffic jams on the city highway: Angry Berliners attack climate activists

Long traffic jams on city highway
Angry Berliners attack climate activists

04/24/2023, 11:15 am

The last generation starts their protest week. In Berlin, activists are stuck in several places to paralyze traffic – with limited success. Nevertheless, some of those affected are bursting at the seams.

As announced, the climate group Last Generation has obstructed traffic in Berlin with several blockades. The police reported more than 30 actions in the city area. The blockades began around 7:30 a.m., in the middle of rush hour traffic. However, there is relatively little evidence of the declared goal of “paralyzing” the city. Traffic is flowing normally in many places. The police announced around 10 a.m. that 20 protests had already been broken up, as reported by the “Tagesspiegel”.

Nevertheless, the newspaper reported long traffic jams, especially the A100 city motorway in the west was largely dense. The traffic jam there is now clearing up. The Tegel Airport tunnel on the A111 is also open again; due to heavy traffic, it was closed for about two hours.

The atmosphere on site was tense at times. The last generation announced on Twitter Video, which is supposed to show an attack on two activists. A man pulls two protesters across the street by their hair. In another case, according to the group, an angry passer-by slapped the cell phone out of the hand of a filming activist, as reported by the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”.

The districts of Spandau and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf were the first to be affected by the actions in the morning. According to a police spokeswoman, seven activists stuck to Ernst-Reuter-Platz and five to Hardenbergstrasse in Charlottenburg. According to the police, the blockades also took place in the morning on Pappelallee and Danziger Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg, on Tempelhofer Damm in Tempelhof and on the A100 on Konstanzer Strasse. A police spokeswoman spoke of a “dynamic situation”.

Ambulances and buses braked

According to information from the newspaper, at least 15 ambulances were obstructed during emergency trips as a result of the actions. Some of these were stuck in traffic, so the rescuers only arrived at patients with significant delays. According to the traffic information center, bus traffic is also affected by the blockades. There are numerous delays, diversions, cancellations and line closures.

The climate group had announced that they wanted to try to paralyze the entire capital. “We no longer accept that this government does not respect our constitution. We no longer accept that the government does not have a plan to stop the destruction of our livelihoods. We resist now!” shared the last generation with. The actions are not time-limited. They should only end when demands have been met. According to their own statements, the Berlin police wanted to be on the road with up to 500 officers in the city area in order to prevent the blockades or end them quickly.

The group complains about the lack of climate protection and demands the establishment of a social council with random members. She is calling on politicians to come up with a plan to achieve the 1.5 degree target, which is intended to prevent the worst consequences of global warming. On May 2nd, Transport Minister Volker Wissing met with activists from the group.