Blood trickles down the white steps on Hamburg's Elbpromenade. Anyway, it looks like this. In truth, the red liquid is a mixture of beetroot juice, cocoa and starch. She should provide for a strong photo. The message: If we continue like this, humanity will die out. Then our children's blood sticks to our hands.
"Blood of our Children" is the name of the campaign, initiated by black-clad Extinction Rebellion (XR) environmental activists protesting against cruise ship pollution on the occasion of the Hamburg Cruise Days, which will be making numerous stops at the Port of Hamburg this weekend.
The fact that the city is organizing a cruise for cruise ships, one of the most climate-damaging travel routes ever, is what the activists find "absolutely inappropriate". But they are about much more.
XR was founded in the UK in 2018, with local offshoots in many parts of the world. In Germany there are 86 local groups. The idea that unites everyone: necessarily non-violent but powerful climate protests.
The activists want to attract attention. To do so, they paralyze traffic, spray slogans on government buildings or throw fake blood at public places. It is disturbed, annoyed and blocked, but nobody should be hurt. The principle: civil disobedience. However, just how exactly this works and what you risk doing, the activists are obviously testing themselves out.
Blue spots after sitting block
Charlotte Götze
Police clears seat block
For the protests against the Cruise Days XR activists from all over northern Germany arrived. As a "funeral procession" they move towards Elbpromenaden. First a brass band, then four people carrying a white coffin. Others hold two banners: it says "Climate emergency now" and "EU warns against the extinction of humanity". From 80 to 150 protesters moved from the Michelwiesen to the edge of the harbor, police said.
The day before, around 120 XR activists had blocked a major intersection - and, despite their own principles, had been confronted with violence. That's how they felt it. They just sat and sang there, say the activists. The police have then asked the women and men three times to clear the street. When they did not respond, the officers cleared the street.
Nils says he was dragged away by two policemen. His jaw still hurts the day after and he has bruises on his ribs. "I would have wished that no violence had been applied from the other side," says Nils. He is rather small. The officers could have carried him away, he thinks.
How to make a body so a packet that policemen can lift him, they would have practiced in their local group. Instead, pain grips have been used. From the perspective of activists: for no reason.
The police have taken Nils personal details, as the 23-year-old says. Possible that he be charged with resistance to state power. Nils works as an educator. An entry in the police certificate would still be no problem, he says. He could explain this reason to employers: "If they do not understand that, I do not want to work there anyway."
"If the rebellion is approved, then we want that"
Charlotte Götze
Extinction Rebellion Hamburg: "We aim at arrests"
XR does not announce its demonstrations. Nevertheless, when the Hamburg police learned about Saturday's protest plans, they did not issue a ban - but officially registered the demo. The "funeral procession" is therefore accompanied by police officers. When the artificial blood is shed, they do not intervene. Just want to know why the activists did not inform the police in advance. That would have been alright, they say.
But activist Gerrit thinks: If XR were to sign up for all their plans, where would disobedience go? "We are aiming for arrests," says Geritt. But that would be difficult if you protest non-violently. Ultimately, the goal is that their demands are accepted in society. "If the rebellion is approved, then we want that."
However, there can be no question of a homogeneous group among the XR activists. Not all agree with all ideas and forms of protest. This is true, for example, of the plans of London-based XR co-founder Roger Hallam, who wanted to paralyze London's airport with drones - and was arrested on Thursday. Goal achieved? However, XR did not want the action to be either good or bad. Therefore, the protest was planned by another group near XR.
"We are not in solidarity with the action, but we do not want to condemn it," says Tino in Hamburg. One did not know to what extent the XR principle of nonviolence could be guaranteed during a drone flight at the airport - therefore one could not position oneself, say other Hamburg activists.
Jonas Walzberg / DPA
This man is being asked by XR activists to leave, as the grouping does not want to face aggressive demands.
Still on the way to the actual funeral march, the XR activists have to cross a street that the police have not cordoned off for them. The traffic light turns red. Some activists cross the street anyway. Most of them stop. The action group Extinction Rebellion Hamburg later wrote on Twitter, she had cleaned the stairs on the promenade again.
