Lützerath () was a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, between

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. In 2013, the

Federal Constitutional Court The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law () of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-W ...

ruled in favour of the expansion of the

Garzweiler surface mine The Tagebau Garzweiler () is a surface mine () in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a ...

; in January 2023, Lützerath was eradicated to make way for the

opencast mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique that extracts rock or minerals from the earth. Open-pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful ore or ro ...

of Garzweiler II ; it will eventually be replaced with a lake. A farmer contested the plans which were approved by the higher administrative court in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Climate activist The climate movement is a global social movement focused on pressuring governments and industry to take action (also called ''climate action'') addressing the causes and impacts of climate change. Citizens and environmental non-profit organizat ...

s moved to the village,

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

on empty farms and occupying treehouses. In an attempt to save the village, a campaign called "" (Lützerath lives) was started. In October 2022, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that

RWE RWE AG is a German multinational energy company headquartered in Essen. It generates and trades electricity in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the United States. In July 2020, RWE completed a far-reaching asset swap deal with E.ON first ...

would phase out coal mining in the region by 2030, but Lützerath would still be demolished. The eviction occurred in January 2023.

History

The

of Lützerath was first mentioned as Lutzelenrode in 1168. The area had several farms, including the Duissener Hof or Wachtmeisterhof, which was run by the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

from 1265 until 1802. Eckhardt Heukamp became the owner of the last remaining farm.

Mining

In 2013, the

ruled in favour of the expansion of the

in the

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 ...

state of

, between

and

. There are thought to be 1.3 billion tons of

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

(also known as brown coal) in the Garzweiler II area. Energy company

planned to remove more than 600 million tons of it by

, which would necessitate the permanent destruction of several villages. The decision to extend the mining of lignite was controversial and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of people. In 2018, 900 villagers were resettled and several buildings including a church were destroyed. In

Erkelenz Erkelenz (, ) is a town in the Rhineland in western Germany that lies southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Lowland, halfway between the Lower Rhine region and the Lower Meuse. It is a medium-sized town (over 44,000) ...

, multiple wind turbines were demolished. By 2021, the hamlet of Lützerath became the centrepoint of the protests against the Garzweiler mine. People had been resettled from the village since 2005; then, farmer Eckart Heukamp refused to leave his land. The state government and RWE had planned to demolish Lützerath by the end of 2022, but Heukamp lodged a legal complaint. The court in Aachen found in favour of RWE, so Heukamp went to the higher administrative court in

and RWE promised to wait for the decision of the court. After the protests at

Hambach Forest Hambach Forest () is an ancient forest located near in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, between Cologne and Aachen. It was planned to be cleared as part of the Hambach surface mine by owner RWE AG. There were protests and occupations ...

, which became known as "Hambi", activists moved to Lützerath, which was nicknamed "Lützi". In March 2022, the court ruled that RWE could proceed with the mining and was entitled to demolish the village, so Heukamp left his farm. The Garzweiler mine is eventually planned to be made into a lake.

Occupation

From 2020 onwards, climate activists began to move to Lützerath, first as tenants and then as

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

s, as the land was cleared by RWE. By the end of 2022, there were around 80 people living in squatted farms, tents and treehouses, although the population fluctuated heavily by season. To save the village, a campaign called "" (Lützerath lives) began. A climate activist won euros on a television show and pledged to spend the money buying up land in the village. In April 2022, people demonstrated against the mine. In October 2022, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that RWE would phase out coal mining in the region by 2030. Lützerath would still be demolished, but five other villages would be spared, namely , , , and . The protests became larger, with another camp setting up in Keyenberg.

Ende Gelände (EG) (German saying for "here and no further"; literally "end terrain" or "end of terrain") is a civil disobedience movement occupying coal mines in Germany to raise awareness for climate justice. Ende Gelände has been organizing mass civil di ...

supported the protests. Following the French tactic of

Zone to Defend Zone to Defend or ZAD ( French: zone à défendre) is a French neologism used to refer to a militant occupation that is intended to physically blockade a development project. By occupying the land, activists aim to prevent the project from goin ...

, the occupiers declared Lützerath to be ZAD Rhineland and organised a festival under the slogan "" (All villages remain!) in November 2021.

Eviction

The

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km south-west ...

court issued an order permitting evictions from Lützerath from 10 January 2023 onwards and banned people from going there. Initially, activists confronted the police and drove them back.

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

estimated there were 2,000 protestors planning to resist the eviction and aiming to prevent the police from accessing the site. Franciscan friar Loïc Schneider drew attention online for impeding police officers, leading to descriptions of him as a "mud wizard" for the traditional friar’s habit he wore. Schneider would eventually be sentenced to 140 days of imprisonment and a 4,200 Euro fine. Climate activist

Luisa Neubauer Luisa-Marie Neubauer (born 21 April 1996) is a German climate activist, politician, and author. She is one of the main organizers of the school strike for climate movement in Germany, where it is commonly referred to under its alternativ ...

and the head of the Earth System Analysis at the

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, ) is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate impacts, and sustainable development. Ranked among the to ...

both condemned the eviction. On 17 January 2023, climate activist

Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...

was arrested by

German police 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 Ger ...

while participating in a protest against demolishing the town for a coal mine expansion. The eviction of the village was mostly carried out by 21January 2023.

References

External links

Lützerath lebt

Lützipedia 4D Atlas
– Project to document Lützerath in 3D /

Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...