In Berlin, activists of the "Last Generation" have attacked a monument to the Basic Law at the Bundestag for the second time and bathed it in blood-red paint.
Berlin – Climate activists from the action group "Last Generation" once again smeared a Berlin work of art on the Basic Law on Sunday morning. The police spoke of a total of three men and three women who are said to have been involved in the action. For their protest, they smeared the monument "Basic Law 49" by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan with blood-red paint and left handprints on the glass panes. The artwork is located at the Bundestag. In addition, the activists covered the engraved texts of the Basic Law with their own posters such as "This government is destroying our livelihoods".
Last generation smeared again monument to the Basic Law - artwork bathed in blood-red paint
After the action, the "Last Generation" published photos of their protest as well as a statement. "The federal government thinks it is in the right, but blood is dripping from its decisions. A real plan against climate collapse is missing," the group writes on Twitter, accusing the government of not introducing enough measures for climate protection. At the end of March, an activist in Hamburg sprayed paint on the façade of the town hall to draw attention to climate change.
"This government is breaking the constitution," reads a poster of the Last Generation. © Paul Zinken/dpa
In the spring of 2021, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the limits from the Paris Climate Agreement to be constitutionally binding, the activists emphasized in a statement. This includes "the obligation to draw up a plan on how these limits can be respected". "But there is no such plan," criticized the "Last Generation". Without such a plan, the federal government would break the constitution.
Basic Law artwork smeared in Berlin: Police investigate activists of the last generation
According to the police, the six activists were temporarily detained to record their personal details. In the meantime, they have been released. The police are investigating for joint damage to property. Meanwhile, supporters of the "Last Generation" have announced further protest actions for Hamburg at an event of the Left Party.
Once again, activists of the environmental protection group have smeared the monument "Basic Law 49" with an oil-like substance. © Paul Zinken/dpa
It is not the first paint attack on the monument of Karavan. His work consists of 19 large glass plates, each of which is engraved with a fundamental right of the Basic Law enacted in 1949. As recently as March, climate activists of the "Last Generation" had already doused the same artwork with black paint, triggering widespread outrage. Politicians from the government and opposition sharply condemned the action at the time, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) was shocked after the action. (nz/afp/dpa)