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Crossroads blockade in Berlin on November 11: invited the chancellor, but he didn't come
Photo: Fabian Hillebrandt / DER SPIEGEL
Activists of the "Last Generation" blocked a main artery in Berlin early this Friday morning.
With about 60 people they occupied the corner of Frankfurter Tor and Frankfurter Allee.
Five groups sat down on the road, traffic is backed up on all sides.
The police were there quickly, but could not prevent some activists from sticking themselves.
Musicians took their seats at the intersection, and a choir sang »Bella Ciao« and »Under the pavement, yes, that's the beach«.
Motorists and passers-by reacted differently to the protests: a truck driver verbally abused the activists, a passer-by kicked an activist's hand.
Others applauded, especially cyclists showed sympathy for the action.
'We don't want that.
The simplest solution is if the federal government responds to our demands, then we will stop our blockades,” said activist Theodor Schnurr.
The demands of the activists: The federal government should "take the simplest security measures".
Means: introduce a 9-euro ticket and 100 km/h on German autobahns.
On Thursday, the activists invited Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) to negotiate their demands.
The politicians didn't come.
The blockade on Friday was the high point of two weeks of protests so far.
After the death of a cyclist last week, the activists stopped their activities for a day, and since then parts of the movement have stuck to the streets of Berlin every day.
As a rule, these actions took place in smaller groups;
the blockade at Frankfurter Tor is considered the largest action of the group so far.
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