Dietrich Wagner (1944 – 28 June 2023) was a German engineer who suffered damage to his eyes during the 2010 Stuttgart 21 project protests due to the use of water cannons. He was 66 at the time. Wagner was struck and knocked unconscious by the high velocity stream of water and noticed blood running down his face when he woke up. He suffered damage to his eyelids, an

orbital blowout fracture An orbital blowout fracture is a traumatic deformity of the orbital floor or medial wall that typically results from the impact of a blunt object larger than the orbit (anatomy), orbital aperture, or eye socket. Most commonly this results in a hern ...

, and damage to both

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

and

retina The retina (; or retinas) is the innermost, photosensitivity, light-sensitive layer of tissue (biology), tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some Mollusca, molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focus (optics), focused two-dimensional ...

s. Wagner subsequently had six eye operations but regained little of his vision and remained almost completely blind.

Aftermath

Before his participation in the Stuttgart 21 protests, Wagner had had no political involvement since being at university. Pictures showing Wagner injured, with two people assisting him, were published in many German newspapers. During later demonstrations, some protesters put red colour on their faces to symbolize Dietrich Wagner. Tristana Moore of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' wrote that the photograph of his injury caused "a regional dispute over an unpopular building project instantly transformed into a national issue — and the political repercussions are now reverberating all the way to Berlin." Wagner became a symbol of the protest against the Stuttgart 21 project. The German newspaper ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'' wrote that he was the "face of the protest". According to the author Jakob Augstein, the picture had a relevant impact, causing Minister of Baden-Württemberg Stefan Mappus to lose his position. In 2014 he visited the United Kingdom to ask

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

, the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, to not authorise usage of water cannons. In an editorial to ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' Wagner opposed the use of water cannons. Wagner died on 28 June 2023, at the age of 79.

References

1945 births 2023 deaths Engineers from Stuttgart German activists {{Germany-engineer-stub