Large demonstration near Brokdorf

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Police operation at the large demonstration near Brokdorf on February 28, 1981

The large demonstration near Brokdorf took place on February 28, 1981 in the Wilstermarsch near Brokdorf in Schleswig-Holstein . The meeting, organized by citizens' groups from the anti-nuclear movement , was directed against the construction of the Brokdorf nuclear power plant . It took place despite a court-confirmed ban on assembly with the participation of around 50,000 to 100,000 demonstrators and was until then the largest demonstration in the Federal Republic. The vast majority of the demonstrators were peaceful, while some 3,000 militants rioted.

In 1985 the Federal Constitutional Court declared the 1981 ban on assembly in the Brokdorf decision to be inadmissible.

prehistory

In 1972 Kraftwerk Union decided to build a nuclear power station near Brokdorf. Construction work began in 1975. Due to numerous objections, the Schleswig Administrative Court imposed a short-term construction freeze in 1976. This year, demonstrations of the anti-nuclear movement against the construction project began. The first large-scale demonstration took place in October 1976 with the participation of around 5,000 demonstrators, around 1,000 of whom briefly occupied the site.

In November 1976, citizens' groups held another demonstration, in which around 30,000 people took part. In contrast to the demonstration in October 1976, there were violent clashes between the police and demonstrators, in which 81 police officers and around 500 demonstrators were injured. The event is known as the Brokdorf II demonstration or the Battle of Brokdorf .

At the beginning of 1977, the Schleswig Administrative Court decided on a general construction freeze on the nuclear power plant. Shortly afterwards, around 30,000 people demonstrated against the construction project in Itzehoe , while an equal number from the K-group faction gathered near Brokdorf. The event is known as the Brokdorf III demonstration .

After a partial construction permit for the construction of the nuclear power plant had been granted at the end of 1980, there was a demonstration against a renewed start of construction. About 10,000 people took part.

Assembly ban

At the beginning of 1981 the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court lifted the construction freeze for the Brokdorf NPP and construction work was resumed on February 6, 1981 after a break of several years. As a result, 50 organizations against nuclear power announced on February 14, 1981 a large demonstration for February 28, 1981. Brokdorf became a "symbol of resistance" within the anti-nuclear movement. The district administrator of the Steinburg district issued a general order on February 23, 1981 , according to which all demonstrations directed against the nuclear power plant on the building site and in the entire Wilstermarsch were prohibited. The reason for the prohibition was that no registration had been made and, in the event of registration, the meeting should have been prohibited because of expected unpeaceful actions. This was underpinned by newspaper reports, leaflets from various groups and experiences from previous demonstrations. In addition, non-violent action groups from all over Germany carried out blockades against the construction site of the nuclear power plant from February 18, 1981.

After the organizers of the demonstration objected to the general decree , the Schleswig Administrative Court largely lifted the ban on assembly on February 27, 1981. The district administrator of the Steinburg district and other parties involved lodged a complaint with the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court. On the night of February 28, 1981, the court reinstated the ban on demonstrations for the entire region, when demonstrators from all over Germany were already on their way. That night, the organizers of the demonstration lodged a constitutional complaint against the decision. Your application to the Federal Constitutional Court for an interim order was unsuccessful.

procedure

On the morning of February 28, 1981, a day with freezing temperatures and an easterly wind, demonstrators traveled across Germany in the direction of the Wilstermarsch despite the existing ban on assembly. The police had set up extensive roadblocks to enforce the ban . Motorways have already been blocked in Lower Saxony , such as the BAB 1 at Sittensen and the BAB 7 at the Horster Dreieck . While long traffic jams built up at the Horster Dreieck, a convoy of around 800 vehicles with demonstrators from Bremen circumvented the block on the autobahn by turning onto a federal road. In the area around Brokdorf, individual roadblocks were attacked and overrun by arriving demonstrators, as in Itzehoe by around 3,000 demonstrators.

In the morning a kick-off rally of the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives Environmental Protection (BBU) took place in Wilster with around 10,000 participants. Subsequently, despite the police barriers, the demonstrators headed towards the construction site of the Brokdorf nuclear power plant. Protesters who had arrived also approached the site by other routes, which required a walk of at least five kilometers. Around noon, the number of demonstrators in the Steinburg district was estimated by the police to be 50,000, while those against nuclear power were estimated to be 100,000. 20,000 demonstrators are said to have reached the immediate vicinity of the site fence, where the BBU held a rally. After the conclusion, when the majority of the demonstrators had already started their way back, around 3,000 militant demonstrators attacked police officers with stones, Molotov cocktails and projectiles. Police used tear gas , water cannons and low-flying helicopters to force the demonstrators away from the site. The most serious incident occurred in the meadows on the construction site. A SEK police officer fell into a moat while chasing a stone thrower. Two demonstrators smashed his helmet in with a club and spade. The suspect was being searched for attempted murder for weeks , which brought the incident nationwide notoriety. On the basis of press photos, two men were identified and convicted of dangerous physical harm and breach of the peace .

Conclusion

With the participation of around 50,000 to 100,000 demonstrators, the large demonstration near Brokdorf was the largest demonstration in Germany to date. While the vast majority of the demonstrators behaved peacefully, conditions similar to civil war were observed in places during clashes between the police and demonstrators. With over 10,000 police officers deployed, including units of the Federal Border Police with large helicopters, it was the largest police operation in the history of the Federal Republic to date. According to the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of the Interior, 240 people were temporarily arrested during the demonstration . The police called the number of 128 police officers injured, seven of them seriously. According to a "sani committee" from among the demonstrators, 56 demonstrators were injured.

The legal disputes over the demonstration led in 1985 to the Brokdorf decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, a fundamental decision on the right of assembly . The 1981 ban on assembly was declared inadmissible. According to the resolution, peaceful demonstration participants' freedom of assembly under Article 8 of the Basic Law is retained even if riots by individuals or a minority are to be expected. A ban can only be considered if the organizer strives for or approves an unsettled course. The authorities must exhaust all means to enable peaceful demonstrators to exercise their fundamental rights.

See also

literature

  • Committee for Fundamental Rights and Democracy : Report on Brokdorf on February 28, 1981. The right to demonstrate is available in full , Sensbachtal, 1981 ( online )
  • As we see it: Brokdorf 02/28/81 - our fight against atomic energy - Documentation by BUU-Pinneberg and the Pinneberger alternative newspaper “Der Anfang” , Pinneberg, 1981 ( online ).
  • Jan-Hendrik Schulz: The large demonstration in Brokdorf on February 28, 1981: an empirical progress study with a view to the factions of the demonstrators and the police , Bielefeld, 2007 (Bachelor thesis, online , pdf, 1.57 MB).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Gudula Geuther: The demo that changed the political culture at Deutschlandfunk Kultur on July 19, 2017.
  2. a b Kathrin Weber: 1981: Large demonstration against Brokdorf nuclear power plant. Prohibition of demonstrations yes or no? at ndr.de on February 26, 2016.
  3. Kai von Appen: The atom symbol on the green meadow in Die Tageszeitung from June 6, 1998.
  4. ^ AKW Brokdorf: Chronicle at ndr.de from June 22, 2016.
  5. By all means in Der Spiegel of February 23, 1981.
  6. Magda Schneider: Demonstrative Meiler-Stein in the daily newspaper of February 28, 2001.
  7. see literature: The large demonstration in Brokdorf on February 28, 1981 , p. 3.
  8. see literature: The large demonstration in Brokdorf on February 28, 1981 , p. 4.
  9. Friedhelm Schachtschneider: 20 years ago Brokdorf became a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement. Hundred thousand against a nuclear power plant at brokdorf-antiakw.de.
  10. Strong wall in: Der Spiegel from May 17, 1982.
  11. Matthias Hoenig ,: 25 years of Brokdorf nuclear power plant - controversial to this day in sh: z of October 4, 2010.
  12. Kathrin Weber: 1981: Large demonstration against Brokdorf nuclear power plant. The legal aftermath and a landmark judgment at ndr.de from February 26, 2016.
  13. BVerfGE 69, 315 , decision of the First Senate of May 14, 1985 , file number 1 BvR 233, 341/81 .