Living in communal tents, chaining themselves to trees, hunger striking and lighting thousands of candles are just a few of the peaceful means in which protestors against the multi-billion dollar development of a new train station in Stuttgart, Germany are projecting their angst to the world.
The train station project, named Stuttgart 21, funded by state and federal German governments as well as the train system, Deutsche Bahn, has received nation-wide condemnation for its treatment of the thousands of citizens vehemently against the idea.
Hundreds of police were called into Stuttgart late last month from around the German state of Baden Württemberg, as well as neighbouring states of Hesse and Bavaria to attempt to quell any signs of trouble from demonstrators, as demolishers began logging twenty-five of a planned two hundred ancient trees, to make room for development on the Stuttgart 21 project.
This resulted in a day portrayed in the German media as “Bloody Thursday,” on September 30, where an estimated 400 protestors were injured by police pepper spray, tear gas and water cannons.
Schwabian Woodstock
What began as an angered protest against the tearing down of Stuttgart’s heritage main train station and a tree-laden centre of its park, Schlosspark, to be replaced by what demonstrators describe as a “concrete jungle of train-tracks and windows,” has become a full-scale ‘hippy live-in’ to prevent any further development. Protestors have been climbing trees and setting up camp in the park.
“On some nights, 2,300 people spend the night in the park on vigil,” said Socialist Alternative member Wolfram Klein, “People are acting spontaneously, there is no organisation backing them, and they are prepared to sacrifice their time living here.”
From the thousands of civilian demonstrators battling to stop the logging of the trees, some are even leaving their jobs to keep overnight watch in the park in case demolishers strike while their backs are turned.
“It has brought out the inner hippy in a lot of people. Some have been calling it Schwabian Woodstock, (Schwabian’s being the majority race of the region’s population)” laughed protester Sabine Oexele. “It’s a really good feeling, and it’s not one particular organisation, it’s people from all spectrums of life getting involved. From rich and poor, doctors and punks, and a lot of older people too, seniors.”
Indeed, walking through Schlosspark on any given day during the demonstrations, one might be forgiven for thinking they had entered a 1960s music festival, as fire-twirlers, harp-players and aging dreadlocked hippies wander the grounds, sporting their badges of protest.
The Dichotomy of a Town in Turmoil
On one side of the Stuttgart 21 furore, we are shown a fierce social dichotomy; the underdog protestors, verses the unyielding power. Though lately, another side has come to light, one of an optimistic spirit. A manifestation of previously unforseen community tenderness has revived people’s belief in their town’s passion. Even though hundreds of armed police are patrolling development areas, causing anguish in the eyes of the demonstrators, protests against Stuttgart 21 have brought out a community closeness within the conservative German town, one which locals have said belongs to a zeitgeist previously unknown in their lives.
“People know very well what they are doing. If we can get together like this, in Germany, it’s serious.” Said Miss Oexele, “So many creative displays have surfaced during this whole debacle; music, paintings, posters, everyone has just banded together. People have brought their old sleeping bags down as charity, for whoever is staying there on the night to use them. It has just proven to us what a remarkable community we actually live in.”
As in every working democracy, an opposing party has formed. A pro-Stuttgart 21 team has emerged and established itself, with a few thousand members, holding protests every week. Members wear badges proclaiming their allegiance with the developer’s plans.
“It’s a good thing for Baden Württemberg, and it’s a good thing for the Schwabish people,” said a pro-Stuttgart 21 protestor who preferred not to be named.
Some of the Reasons for the 'Anti' Sentiment, and Hopes for Some Answers
There are a key number of reasons why the protestors are against the logging of the park’s trees. Local scientists have claimed for ecological reasons, if the trees in the park were to be removed, air pollution of the town would climb profusely.
For some demonstrators, it is the heritage age of the trees.
“The oldest tree they want to cut down is 2000 years old,” claimed protestor Hilda Baumgarten. “People have placed posters on the trees, displaying the age in comparison to the ages of historical figures like Mark Twain and Vincent Van Gogh. If they chop these trees down, they are doing away with history.”
Despite the ongoing development of Stuttgart 21, citizens and demonstrators against the project are remaining positive.
“People are peaceful, but they’re extremely determined to stop the project,” said Mr Klein, “There are rumours that some of the construction will be stopped, soon.”
Though while sleeping overnight, even though park temperatures have dropped recently to under five degrees centigrade, protestors still stand their ground.
“Today, 2010, people want to kill all this nature, to make a stone desert over the next 20 years and for what?” said Miss Baumgarten, “This will be stopped. I think Berlin (the federal government) is waking up to what’s happening here.”
Further Sources:
Read more at Suite101: Claiming Back the City- The Ongoing Protests Against Stuttgart 21
Matthew Garrick - A writer and radio broadcaster by love and by trade. In recent times Matthew has been perched in the centre of Vilnius, Lithuania, writing ...
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