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A worker removes the paint residue at the Brandenburg Gate.
© Britta Pedersen/dpa/archive image
The paint attack on the iconic Brandenburg Gate made headlines - and sparked outrage.
Now the state of Berlin wants to make climate activists pay.
Berlin - Around five months after the paint attack on the Brandenburg Gate, the state of Berlin is demanding around 142,000 euros from the climate activists.
A corresponding civil lawsuit had been filed by the law firm commissioned with the Berlin Regional Court, a spokeswoman for the Senate Department of Finance said on Tuesday upon request.
It is directed against 13 members of the Last Generation climate group.
It is requested that they be sentenced as joint and several debtors.
Specifically, they should pay 141,575.58 euros plus interest to the state.
A spokeswoman for the Berlin Regional Court was initially unable to say anything about the proceedings.
According to the tax authorities, the climate demonstrators initially agreed through the media to pay for the cleaning of the Brandenburg Gate.
However, the activists did not comply with the request for an initial payment totaling 115,000 euros.
“Since all the final invoices for the extensive cleaning work have now been received, the lawsuit could be filed,” it said.
“Vandalism has consequences,” said Finance Senator Stefan Evers.
Berliners should not have to bear the costs of “criminal activities,” emphasized the CDU politician.
“Willful destructiveness is not a form of democratic conflict of opinion.” Evers had announced that he wanted to ask the climate activists to pay.
Members of the Last Generation sprayed the iconic landmark with orange-yellow paint on September 17, 2023.
The action made headlines - and outrage.
The cleaning work was complex and was only completed at the beginning of December.
According to its own information, the public prosecutor's office has so far initiated a total of 14 cases against those suspected of being involved in the color attack.
She accuses the climate demonstrators of damaging property that is harmful to the community and some of them also resisting law enforcement officers.
Around two months after the first paint attack, the gate was again daubed with orange paint by members of the Last Generation.
dpa