Lützerath () was a hamlet in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, between

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

and Düsseldorf. In 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the expansion of the Garzweiler surface mine; in January 2023, Lützerath was eradicated to make way for the

opencast mining Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

of Garzweiler II ; it will eventually be replaced with a lake. A farmer contested the plans which were approved by the higher administrative court in Münster. Climate activists moved to the village,

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

on empty farms and occupying treehouses. In an attempt to save the village, a campaign called "" (Lützerath lives) was started. In October 2022, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that RWE would phase out coal mining in the region by 2030, but Lützerath would still be demolished. The eviction occurred in January 2023.

History

The hamlet of Lützerath was first mentioned as Lutzelenrode in 1168. The area had several farms, including the Duissener Hof or Wachtmeisterhof, which was run by the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery in Duisburg from 1265 until 1802. Eckhardt Heukamp became the owner of the last remaining farm.

Mining

In 2013, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the expansion of the Garzweiler surface mine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, between

and Düsseldorf. There are thought to be 1.3 billion tons of

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

(also known as brown coal) in the Garzweiler II area. Energy company RWE planned to remove more than 600 million tons of it by

, which would necessitate the permanent destruction of several villages. The decision to extend the mining of lignite was controversial and resulted in the displacement of hundreds of people. In 2018, 900 villagers were resettled and several buildings including a church were destroyed. In Erkelenz, multiple wind turbines were demolished. By 2021, the hamlet of Lützerath became the centrepoint of the protests against the Garzweiler mine. People had been resettled from the village since 2005; then, farmer Eckart Heukamp refused to leave his land. The state government and RWE had planned to demolish Lützerath by the end of 2022, but Heukamp lodged a legal complaint. The court in Aachen found in favour of RWE, so Heukamp went to the higher administrative court in Münster and RWE promised to wait for the decision of the court. After the protests at Hambach Forest, which became known as "Hambi", activists moved to Lützerath, which was nicknamed "Lützi". In March 2022, the court ruled that RWE could proceed with the mining and was entitled to demolish the village, so Heukamp left his farm. The Garzweiler mine is eventually planned to be made into a lake.

Occupation

From 2020 onwards, climate activists began to move to Lützerath, first as tenants and then as

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

s, as the land was cleared by RWE. By the end of 2022, there were around 80 people living in squatted farms, tents and treehouses, although the population fluctuated heavily by season. To save the village, a campaign called "" (Lützerath lives) began. A climate activist won euros on a television show and pledged to spend the money buying up land in the village. In April 2022, people demonstrated against the mine. In October 2022, the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced that RWE would phase out coal mining in the region by 2030. Lützerath would still be demolished, but five other villages would be spared, namely , , , and . The protests became larger, with another camp setting up in Keyenberg. Ende Gelände supported the protests. Following the French tactic of

Zone to Defend Zone to Defend or ZAD (French: zone à défendre) is a French neologism used to refer to a militant squatting, occupation that is intended to physically blockade a development project. By occupying the land, activists aim to prevent the project ...

, the occupiers declared Lützerath to be ZAD Rhineland and organised a festival under the slogan "" (All villages remain!) in November 2021.

Eviction

The Heinsberg court issued an order permitting evictions from Lützerath from 10 January 2023 onwards and banned people from going there. Initially, activists confronted the police and drove them back. ZDF estimated there were 2,000 protestors planning to resist the eviction and aiming to prevent the police from accessing the site. One protester caught public attention by dressing as a wizard and taunting police who were stuck in the mud. Climate activist Luisa Neubauer and the head of the Earth System Analysis at the

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK, German: ''Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung'') is a German government-funded research institute addressing crucial scientific questions in the fields of global change, climate im ...

both condemned the eviction. On 17 January 2023, climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested by German police while participating in a protest against demolishing the town for a coal mine expansion. The eviction of the village was mostly carried out by 21January 2023.

References

External links