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2000 police officers are scheduled for the deployment
Photo:
Carsten Koall / Getty Images
Hundreds of police officers began clearing the left-hand trailer camp "Köpi" in the Mitte district of Berlin on Friday morning.
Officials advanced with heavy equipment on the premises on Köpenicker Straße.
A clearing armor tore down a piece of fence behind which the residents had holed up.
They had announced resistance.
According to the police, objects were thrown at officers and fire extinguishers sprayed on them.
The camp is one of the last symbolic projects of the left scene in Berlin.
The property owner had fought for the evacuation in court.
Before the evacuation, people could be seen on tall trees on the so-called Köpi-Platz.
A spokeswoman for the project shouted via megaphone that an advance on the site would endanger human life.
"Don't put up with that," she said, and berated the police.
Smoke rose from the grounds.
Objects flew outside.
The area was cordoned off by the police.
Hundreds of officers with clearing equipment
Counter-demonstrators gathered in front of the barriers for three registered rallies.
Local reporters watched as officials and supporters of the project clash.
The police had gathered hundreds of officers and clearing equipment in side streets.
2000 officers were scheduled for the mission, 700 of them came from outside.
About 30 people live in construction trailers on the approximately 2,600 square meter property next to a house on the former wall that has been occupied since 1990.
The property owner successfully sued for eviction in June with reference to a building permit.
The Berlin Court of Justice rejected an urgent application by the residents to stop the foreclosure on Wednesday.
Efforts were made to avert the eviction until the very end.
The left-wing faction in the Berlin House of Representatives announced that the owner had offered the property for sale through brokers and had shown in negotiations to sell it to the state's own housing association.
The purchase price, purchase contract and notary appointment had already been fixed.
"Then the owner broke the negotiations," said a message from the Left on Thursday.
According to the police, cars and buildings were damaged in the area on Friday night.
Several vehicles were set on fire.
On Thursday evening, a few hundred people demonstrated largely peacefully in nearby Kreuzberg.
kim / dpa
