Munich Airport – “Last generation” protests at the airport – Erding
“Save food – save lives” is written on the banners of the activists of the group “Uprising of the Last Generation”, who fixed themselves with glue on the streets in front of the cargo halls of Munich Airport from 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. The blockade has temporarily severely restricted access to the cargo area, the police report. Specifically, the “last generation” is calling for a law that prohibits supermarkets from throwing away food that is still edible. This means that CO₂ can be saved directly. “The federal government must initiate an action plan so that our lives are saved,” emphasizes Carla Hinrichs, a member of the group. For several weeks, the actions of the “last generation” have been causing a stir. Road blockades and demonstrations by activists repeatedly lead to traffic chaos. Blockades were initiated at Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin airports on Wednesday morning.
The police arrived at the scene in Munich shortly after the start of the action, reported Sebastian Pinta from the police headquarters in Upper Bavaria North. First, the officials sought to talk to the activists and offered them to continue their protest in an alternative area away from the traffic. The protesters refused. The adhesive fixation was then removed from the roadway by the police with the support of the rescue service and the airport fire brigade. Almost everyone then tried to leave the road voluntarily. One remaining person was carried away by the emergency services. From 9.50 a.m. the roads were passable again. Legal action would now be taken against the activists for coercion in road traffic.
The legal ramifications and the physical strain of being pinned to the cold tarmac don’t seem to stop the activists. Among them is the grandfather of eight, Ernst Hörmann. The 72-year-old worries about the future of his grandchildren. “Without accelerated change, we will lose all control over our climate and thus our food,” he says, explaining his participation in the intervention in Munich’s air traffic. The location near the freight halls was deliberately chosen, explains Carla Hinrichs. After demonstrations with “Fridays for Future” did not achieve the desired effects, the “last generation” decided to join the civil resistance. With the repeated blockades of motorways and airports throughout Germany, the group hopes to create economic damage that cannot be rejected politically, the activist emphasizes. “We are not ready to stop our disruption until our demands are met or the government locks us up permanently.”