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Members of the »Last Generation« – here soiling a Klimt work in Vienna
Photo: HANDOUT/AFP
At the end of August, two activists from the »Last Generation« movement glued themselves to a Rubens painting in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
The district court in Munich has now issued three penal orders.
A court spokesman for the dpa news agency confirmed that two of these penal orders were imposed on the two men who were stuck, one against the person who filmed the action.
According to the Munich I public prosecutor's office, which applied for the penal orders, "a substantial fine was imposed" in each case, which the spokeswoman for the authority did not, however, quantify.
But it could also be expensive regardless of that: "We will of course assert our claims under civil law," said Tine Nehler, spokeswoman for the Pinakotheken.
According to the public prosecutor, the action in August caused damage of 11,000 euros.
According to the court, one of the two men who was stuck and the filmmaker appealed the penalty order.
This leads to a trial in the district court.
However, the spokesman could not say when that should be.
Initially, no objection had been received against the third penalty order.
"It's not legitimate"
On August 28, climate activists glued themselves to the frame of Peter Paul Rubens' 17th-century painting The Massacre of the Innocents in Bethlehem.
According to the museum, employees of the museum and police officers then had to separate the two men from the historical frame with solvents, which, however, was damaged.
The museum also announced that there was damage to the wall covering.
"It is not legitimate to damage unique cultural evidence of humanity in order to point out the factual climatic problems," said the general director of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, Bernhard Maaz, after the action.
"A painting like 'The Massacre of the Innocents' and the historical gilded frame are of inestimable cultural-historical value."
The actions of the "Last Generation" are also controversial among the population. According to a SPIEGEL survey, a majority rejects the traffic blockades and damage to art.
It was only on Tuesday that the famous painting "Death and Life" by Gustav Klimt, which was protected by glass, was poured with oil 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 security service was "sensitized" to Art Cologne, currently the largest art fair in Germany.
mrc/dpa
