Hambach Forest
On this map, Hambach Forest (around abandoned old Morschenich) is not displayed at all, but under a hatching meaning "future area of operations".
[9] One activist, who was freed from a lock-on on a tripod, was sentenced to six months on parole after a pretrial detention of 67 days in Cologne-Ossendorf jail [de].
[10][9] Two activists were released after 52 days in pretrial detention in Cologne-Ossendorf jail after a medical examination revealed that they were likely under 21 years old and should therefore be processed under juvenile law.
[9] A 22-year-old activist from Australia joined the occupation in March 2018 and planned to stay for two weeks in order to take part in a treehouse-building workshop.
She was arrested on 19 March, one week after her arrival, after she was identified as being part of a group from whom firecrackers were thrown in the direction of police officers.
[11] On 13 September 2018 a large scale police operation[12] started initiated by North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Construction to evict more than fifty tree houses which existed for up to six years because they didn't comply with fire safety regulation standards.
[13] As evictions continued, on 19 September 2018, the 27-year old artist, blogger and journalist Steffen Meyn fell through a walkway of 15 meters height in the treehouse village of Beechtown and died.
[14] The eviction of tree houses was stopped immediately after that incident by Herbert Reul, North Rhine-Westphalia's interior minister.
According to the court, the police operation, as authorized by the North Rhine-Westphalia state government, had “pretended” to enforce fire protection rules when the real aim was to clear the protest camp.
[17] On 5 October 2018 the Higher Administrative Court (Oberverwaltungsgericht) of Münster ruled that the clearance of Hambach Forest by RWE had to stop immediately until evidence brought by BUND could be evaluated.
It was organized by BUND, Campact, Greenpeace, NaturFreunde Deutschlands (Friends of Nature), the local initiatives Buirer für Buir and Arbeitsgemeinschaft "Bäuerliche Landwirtschaft" (AbL), and others.
The demonstrators celebrated the recent court decision in a peaceful festival atmosphere with many speeches, demanding an end to the use of coal to generate power.
She then visited the site, saying "It makes me incredibly sad, to see all this destruction, in this area that used to be a forest ecosystem, and I feel sorry for the people who have to move.
"[29] In January 2020, the preservation of the Hambach Forest was agreed at a top-level meeting of the German government and the four federal states affected by the coal phase-out.
