Hamburg: Climate activists stick to the conductor's desk in the Elbphilharmonie

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Elbe Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg (2021)

Photo: MORRIS MAC MATZEN / AFP

Shortly before the start of a concert in the Elbphilharmonie, climate activists of the "last generation" glued themselves to a conductor's podium on Wednesday evening.

In a video that the group shared on Twitter, a woman and a man, each wearing a safety vest, were seen standing at the podium on stage and speaking to the audience.

The activists called for resistance to what they saw as the government's indecisive climate policy.

A police spokesman said when asked by the dpa news agency that two activists had glued themselves to a railing in the Great Hall with superglue shortly after 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening – a few moments before the concert by the Staatskapelle Saxon Orchestra began.

The two were released from the railing after a short time and taken into custody.

"Just as there is only one Beethoven violin concerto, we only have this one planet whose boundaries we so disregard that climate-related disasters are becoming more frequent and deadly," says an activist in a video posted to Twitter by the Last Generation.

And: "There will be no more Elbphilharmonie to enjoy Beethoven when Hamburg is under water."

Again and again actions related to art

In the past few weeks there have been several actions by climate activists in connection with cultural events or works of art.

It was not until mid-November that oil was poured over Gustav Klimt's famous painting »Death and Life«, which is protected by glass and is in Vienna's Leopold Museum.

One of the activists also stuck his hand to the protective glass.

Tomato soup had previously been thrown at the famous work »Sunflowers« by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh at the National Gallery in London.

This work was also protected by a pane of glass.

The actions of the "last generation" are also controversial among the German population. According to a SPIEGEL survey, a majority rejects the traffic blockades and damage to art.

jok/dpa