Climate activists abseil from the bridge – the highway is completely closed

Several climate activists abseiled from a bridge over the Autobahn 648 in Frankfurt on Saturday. The action was a registered meeting, the police said. The city of Frankfurt had approved the demonstration and the abseiling action. The freeway was completely closed during the protest.

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In Berlin, climate activists previously smeared a monument not far from the Bundestag. The Last Generation group announced on Saturday that several of its supporters had "soaked the glass sculpture "Basic Law 49" in front of the Jakob Kaiser House "in petroleum". A spokesman for the Berlin police said that the memorial had been daubed or poured over, with what is not yet clear.

The police found six people there who belonged to the "Last Generation" group. Their personal details have been determined, and criminal investigations may be initiated. Several Berlin media had previously reported about it.

In the statement, a spokeswoman for the group explained the background to the action: “Burning oil or protecting fundamental rights? In 2023, only one of the two is possible.” The protest of the climate protection activists was directed at the federal government: “We continue to race towards the 1.5 degree limit, behind which the climate tipping points are lurking: the Arctic is melting. The Gulf Stream comes to a standstill. The Amazon rainforest is dying,” criticize the climate protection activists. “The government has a constitutional duty to protect our livelihoods and freedom. The government is not doing its duty.”

In 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court found that the state also has an obligation on the basis of Article Two of the Basic Law to “protect life and health from the dangers of climate change”.

The glass sculpture "Basic Law 49" on the Spree promenade includes 19 panes of glass, each around three meters high. The 19 fundamental rights articles of the Basic Law are laser-engraved into it.

In February, climate protection demonstrators from the group felled a smaller tree in front of the Chancellery in Berlin. The last generation group was formed after a climate hunger strike in Berlin and is calling for more measures to protect the climate. Since the beginning of 2022, it has been blocking motorway exits and other roads in many cities, with Berlin being a focal point.

The action met with outrage among members of the Bundestag. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth (SPD), criticized “a cheap, undignified action” on Twitter. The activists are not concerned with fundamental rights, they rather destroy art "similar to the Taliban". The FDP deputy Marcus Faber wrote that Roth had brought the criticism of the action "to the point".