Before the village is cleared: activists and the police fight in front of Lützerath

The village of Lützerath, southwest of Düsseldorf, is to give way to open-cast coal mining.

Before the village is cleared: activists and the police fight in front of Lützerath

The village of Lützerath, southwest of Düsseldorf, is to give way to open-cast coal mining. But activists oppose this - during a police operation to prepare for a later evacuation of the place, there are clashes. Firecrackers, bottles and stones fly.

Before the planned evacuation of the village of Lützerath in the Rhenish lignite mining area, there were scuffles between police officers and climate activists. The activists threw firecrackers, bottles and stones and there was a scuffle. A police spokesman said criminal proceedings for breach of the peace would be initiated because of the firecrackers and stone throwing.

Activists had previously positioned themselves behind a burning barricade on the access road to Lützerath. This barricade was cleared away by the police in the afternoon, as was a superstructure over the access road. Several activists who were on it were brought down by rescuers, said the police spokesman. "This is not the beginning of the eviction," he said. Rather, preparatory work for the planned evacuation would be carried out in the middle of the month.

Lützerath southwest of Düsseldorf is to be dredged for coal extraction. However, activists who want to fight for the place live in the houses. "The coal under Lützerath has to stay in the ground," said Antje Bussberg from the "All Villages Remain" initiative, with a view to the climate-damaging energy source.

On the other hand, the energy group RWE announced: "The use of the former settlement this winter is necessary to ensure a secure supply of the power plants in the midst of the energy crisis." The legality was finally confirmed by the courts. "All of the original residents of Lützerath have left the place," said RWE.

The police rely on de-escalation and transparency. "We will only use coercive measures if it is not otherwise possible in the sense of a proportionate and consistent intervention or to prosecute criminal offenses," assured Aachen police chief Dirk Weinspach. "I appeal not to combine the protest against an eviction with the commission of criminal offences."