The few houses that exist in Lützerath have been occupied by a thousand protesters and activists.
It’s been a little over two years since the first occupiers got there, and in recent days they’ve been setting up barricades out of what was available, such as paving stones, containers and tree branches. They have built huts in the trees to keep away from the police and continue to occupy the land.
The reason for the occupation is that an energy company wants to mine lignite in the area. The conflict has made Lützerath a symbol of the German energy debate.
Next to Lützerath is an already existing lignite mine, and now the energy company wants to start mining lignite also where Lützerath is located.
Illegally occupy the village
Lignite has long been on its way to being phased out in Germany, but ever since Russia started its war in Ukraine, the authorities have swerved. Like many other European countries, the country is in an energy crisis since it stopped importing Russian gas.
As of Tuesday, it is illegal to occupy the village and the police have begun evacuation. According to reports, up to 2,000 police officers have been called to the scene to make sure everything goes right.
The climate activists hope to delay the evacuation of Lützerath until February 28. After that, a new ban on forest clearing comes into force, which may make it more difficult to break up the camp.
“Leave the coal in the ground”
The fight against new lignite mining in the West German village has engaged people from both Germany and the neighboring Netherlands.
– We have to start looking at energy in a different way, and above all use less energy. Leave this coal in the ground, says an activist from the Netherlands.
The activist Sascha, whose real name is something else, does not believe that politics can be counted on to solve the issue.
– Ultimately, it is up to us to stop the police from evacuating Lützerath.