The last bastion
Lützerath has been ‘excavated’ – despite resistance and occupation. Samuel Bosshardt witnessed the activists’ daily life and struggle up to the eviction.
When I first stood on the edge of the opencast coal mine in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, I felt as if I had landed on another planet. Suddenly the landscape ends. A gigantic hole all the way to the horizon. Nothing but dirt, dust and the squealing of countless coal excavators. And yet, in the midst of this incredible destruction of our Earth, what in my eyes was the most beautiful place in the world came into being. Right on the edge of the mine lay Lützerath, a small village threatened with demolition. Climate activists brought the village back to life and created a vibrant, peaceful place – a place open to everyone, where dreams and utopias could become reality and anarchy reigned.
Despite massive resistance, the state government approved a large-scale police operation to clear the village and make way for the coal excavators. Many people barricaded themselves in houses and trees to delay the eviction. The police stormed the village. After a few days, the place was nothing but a heap of rubble. Although Lützerath will be history for ever, it lives on in people’s hearts. The fight for climate justice goes on.
Lützerath, 18 May 2022
Lara, Inok, Nessa, Tanne, Yuri and Mütze (from left) walk to the edge of the pit to look at the mine. The activists are masked, as RWE’s works security regularly patrols the edge.
Lützerath, 9 October 2022
The last rays of the day fall on a small tree house that is being renovated.
Lützerath, 23 April 2022
After a large demonstration around Lützerath the area between the village and the mine was occupied. Activists celebrate the moment with a big campfire.
Lützerath, 6 October 2022
At night, activists continue building on the roof of the Tower by the light of head torches and the moon.
Lützerath, 9 January 2023
In an occupied warehouse, activists can stock up on food and other supplies for the eviction. They expect the police to clear the ground-level obstacles first. Then the ‘Kitchen for All’ (Küfa) will no longer be able to cook and feed the activists. As RWE has cut off the electricity supply to Lützerath, the rooms are dark.
Lützerath, 21 May 2022
Lützerath, 12 January 2023
Activists have climbed the Tower during the ground-level clearance. After a short time almost all the ground structures have been cleared. People remain only in the higher constructions, trees and barricaded houses.
Lützerath, 14 January 2023
The Villa amid rubble and felled trees four days after the start of the eviction. The Villa was the first occupied house in Lützerath.
Lützerath, 13 November 2022
The activist Schildkröte in the ‘terraced housing estate’ she helped build and lives in.
Lützerath, 21 May 2022
Nessa, Yuri, Petzi and Mütze watch the sunset from the embankment between Lützerath and the mine.
Lützerath, 12 January 2023
For several days the police have been clearing and destroying the structures around the tower. A lifting platform brings down the last activists from the terraced houses, where they had chained themselves inside.
Lützerath, 11 January 2023
Early in the morning the police storm the village with several evidence and arrest units (BFE). Everything and everyone in the way is forcibly removed. The activists knew the eviction was imminent. Even so, many were surprised by how suddenly and quickly the police stormed the village.
Lützerath, 12 January 2023
At night an activist occupies a traverse leading to other tree houses. The police look out for traverses with nobody hanging from them so they can cut them. Activists often had to warn the police by megaphone or through journalists not to cut occupied traverses – that could have killed the occupiers.
Lützerath, 17 January 2023
The police try to stop people and kettle them. The activists trying to get into the mine after the eviction stick together.
Lützerath, 17 January 2023
Many activists break away from a demonstration and storm the area in front of the open-cast mine. Although the village has been completely cleared and almost everything has been flattened, people are not giving up.
Lützerath, 18 October 2022
View from the edge of the pit next to the village over the open-cast mine and a coal excavator on a foggy day.
Lützerath, 9 October 2022
