Free Republic of Wendland

The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt conducted drilling in Gorleben in 1979 to test the salt domes there for suitability in storing radioactive waste.

[1] Among the buildings were numerous community facilities, such as the 100-person-capacity Friendship House, greenhouses, an infirmary, a hairdressing salon and an area for waste disposal.

[2] In the nearby information center, a Wends Passport (Wendenpass) could be issued, along with an entry stamp, for 10 Deutsche Marks.

On the weekends, several thousand sympathizers and sightseers came to the occupied site, among them prominent people, such as the former head of the "Young Socialists", Gerhard Schröder.

Other well-known visitors and residents included the resistance fighter Heinz Brandt, the musicians Walter Mossmann and Wolf Biermann, the photographer Günter Zint and the SPD politician Jo Leinen, as well as the writer Klaus Schlesinger.

On the morning of 4 June 1980 the occupation site was cleared by the Lower Saxony police and the Federal Border Guard on the order of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

Thus in 2006, a five-page advertisement by the Free Republic of Wendland against the Nuclear Industry and Police Brutality was published in a local newspaper.

[10] After the 30th anniversary of the eviction, the director Florian Fiedler, along with the Playhouse Hannover, initiated the theatre project Free Republic of Wendland -- Reactivated from 17 until 26 September 2010.

[11] A lot of media attention was focused on the project after someone threw a pie at Green Party member Trittin during a panel discussion.