As of: March 18, 2024, 8:15 p.m
By: Carmen Mörwald
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Moritz Riedacher aka “Bettel-Moritz” was one of the most famous climate gluers in Germany.
But now he was putting an end to his unusual full-time job.
Munich – One of the most controversial forms of protest of the “last generation” are road blockades.
There were repeated, sometimes violent, clashes between climate activists and angry drivers.
This did not leave Moritz Riedacher unscathed.
He is one of the group's best-known faces, but he has now given up his activist life due to mental health problems.
Angry drivers “mentally destroyed” former climate sticker
For two years, Riedacher traveled through Germany to take part in road blockades as a climate gluer.
That brought a lot of charges against him, but that wasn't enough: the district courts in Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Heilbronn sentenced him to prison terms of several months.
He was only able to pay his fines with the help of the donation portal “GoFundMe”, which earned him the nickname “Bettel-Moritz”.
Activist Moritz Riedacher is no longer a member of the “Last Generation” because the climate protest has “mentally destroyed” him.
© Hannes P. Albert / dpa
“But that’s not the reason why I’m stopping,” explains Riedacher in an interview with
Bild.de
and explains: “The constant aggressive reactions from drivers have put more and more psychological and mental strain on me.
Added to this was the exhaustion due to the many trips throughout Germany.” The climate protest caused him “severe suffering and torment,” and angry drivers were “mentally destroying” him.
Klima-Kleber is pulling the ripcord, but wants to remain active
One incident still bothers Riedacher today: “During a road blockade last September, a driver attacked me with pepper spray and kicked me.” Physical attacks are not uncommon: during a sticking campaign in Hamburg, an activist was hit by an angry driver.
In another case, an aggressive man kicked and shouted at a protester several times.
“I just couldn’t muster up the courage to expose myself to such uncontrolled anger.” The former climate gluer found it increasingly difficult to calm down.
“For many nights I didn’t get any sleep.
Whenever I fell asleep, I woke up from nightmares,” says Riedacher.
According to
Bild.de,
he put an end to this in the winter of 2023, left “Last Generation” and then sought professional help.
Today the 27-year-old reports that he is feeling well again.
He continues to support the goals of the “Last Generation” – but in a different way.
Riedacher would like to become active in politics and take part in the Stuttgart local council election for the Animal Protection Party.
The activist group, on the other hand, wants to forego sticking campaigns on streets in the future and instead hold meetings.
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