Henning Jeschke (born 2000 in

Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg. In 2021 it surpa ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

climate

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, and part of the activists group Last Generation. He used to study

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

before turning to full-time activism.

Life

Jeschke received considerable press coverage in 2021 being part of a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

shortly before the federal election. The strikers had called on the three main chancellor candidates to publicly discuss measures against the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

. Lina Eichler collapsed and was, like others, sent to hospital. The strike ended after four weeks when

Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born 14 June 1958) is a German politician who served as the Chancellor of Germany from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Ge ...

agreed to hold a conversation within the next month. The meeting eventually took place on 12 November 2021, with Jeschke being joined by fellow Last Generation activist Lea Bonasera. The activist group Last Generation was formed by participants of the hunger strike, with Jeschke being one of the group's initiators. The group generated public discussions in Germany by blocking highways until February 2022 to raise awareness of

food waste The causes of food going uneaten are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during food production, production, food processing, processing, Food distribution, distribution, Grocery store, retail and food service sales, and Social clas ...

among the German public. In August 2020, Jeschke and two other activists blocked an

airplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

from lifting off by gluing themselves to it. Jeschke was charged with coercion and expected the court to also address the topic of climate emergency, but the case was dropped unconditionally at the request of the prosecution. The Last Generation group obtained funding from a group in California to continue to protest against the burning of oil, gas and coal. Eichler and Jeschke were interviewed to celebrate the group's first birthday. As one of the main leaders of the group, which is suspected to be a criminal association, Jeschke's home was raided twice. In March 2023, a Berlin

Amtsgericht An ''Amtsgericht'' (District Court) in Germany is an official court. These courts form the lowest level of the ' ordinary jurisdiction' of the German judiciary (German ''Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit''), which is responsible for most criminal and ...

(district court) sentenced Jeschke, who was not present, to fines totaling 1,400 euros in relation to six protests between March and October 2022. During the trial, Jeschke had glued himself to a table in the courtroom and been removed after having refused to be detached from it. As the verdict was pronounced, Jeschke took part in a further protest which, according to a Last Generation, featured the table which he had glued himself to. A police spokesperson said that the table had been confiscated and would eventually be returned to the court. In October 2023, Letzte Generation announced that Jeschke, together with two others, would leave the core group of Last Generation, which had consisted of six people, as he had begun engagement in a cross-national environmental activist network that adopts similar methods. All founding members of Letzte Generationen would retain vetoing rights. In June 2024, a Berlin district court suspended the case concerning Jeschke having glued himself to a court table, stating that it would await the result of a trial at the Landgericht on charges against him regarding the formation of a criminal organization.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeschke, Henning Living people German climate activists 2000 births