They sit in tree houses, on swings, ladders and branches, between colorful banners and signs: In a forest in the middle of Brandenburg, around 80 activists are carpentering, hammering and nailing at a protest camp. It is intended to stop the richest man in the world according to Forbes – Elon Musk, owner of the Tesla car company with a location in the immediate vicinity of the community of Grünheide. The plant is to be expanded, and around 100 hectares of forest area in the adjacent water protection area will have to be removed. Originally there was talk of 47 hectares. But that’s not the real problem.
After four years in which Tesla sometimes built without approval, the authorities subsequently approved projects, granted exceptions without taking water protection regulations into account and ignored environmentally damaging accidents on the factory premises, residents and activists believe: Enough! In a citizen survey, people therefore positioned themselves against the expansion, knowing full well that the result would not change Musk or the Brandenburg state government and authorities.
A protest camp may be the last resort of the area where the ax will soon be laid. In the pine forest east of Berlin, between the Fangschleuse freight yard and the community of Grünheide, the history of environmental protest is being continued, especially after the Hambacher Forest and Lützerath. But unlike in “Hambi” and “Lützi”, in Grünheide there is a “distribution battle for water in which the profits of a corporation are placed above the needs of people”. This is how the activists of the “Stop Tesla” initiative see it. Because the plant uses and pollutes huge amounts of water.
At least that’s what the approval documents indicate. Accordingly, Tesla and the authorities expect peak water consumption of 1.4 million cubic meters of water per year. This corresponds to the needs of a city of 40,000 souls. Tesla promises that the expansion will not use any additional resources. In addition, only 450,000 cubic meters are said to have been used last year. But in one of the driest regions in Germany, even that is too much. Nowhere does it rain as little as here. Because of climate change, water levels have also been declining for years.
Since the foundation stones of the Tesla factory were laid, residents have feared that the taps will only drip in the future. The discontent over this repeatedly broke out in the form of timid citizen protests. The protest camp is now the climax of the uprising against Musk. It is unlikely that it will be a turning point in the East German water drama. On the other hand, the fight for water, as was predicted for other regions of the world in 1985, is becoming a reality, especially in the East German pine forest.
And it’s about to escalate. Work on the protest camp began peacefully at the end of February. But after almost three weeks, the tone between activists and police is becoming rougher. The authorities want to end the gathering before Easter. Sleeping in the tree houses is now forbidden. The activists do it anyway. They also ignored the dismantling of the huts in the branches, as was also ordered.
But in the pine forest near Grünheide we are still a long way from tumult and violent escapades – unlike in the Hambacher Forest or in Lützerath, where the activists also refused to comply with the authorities’ requirements, had to be carried away by police officers and in the end stones were thrown. It is not unlikely that a scuffle will soon develop in the idyll of the Tesla Forest. Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Christian Stübgen had already threatened to evacuate the protest camp and accused the demonstrators of radicalizing themselves. Those involved dreamed of a “Lützerath of the East” and wanted a “European center of eco-fascism,” says the CDU politician.
The background is, among other things, the fire on an electricity pylon in East Brandenburg, which cut off the supply to the Tesla factory and paralyzed production there for days. The left-wing extremist Vulkan group claimed responsibility for the arson attack. The fact that Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Stübgen is accusing the activists in the pine forest of extremism is not entirely true, but given the events in Lützerath, it is not far-fetched either. During the protests in North Rhine-Westphalia at the beginning of 2023, left-wing extremists also hijacked the action in order to cause unrest and disrupt the originally peaceful protest. Where climate and environmental protests take place, left-wing troublemakers are often not far away. Grünheide is no exception, the left-wing arsonists show.
Meanwhile, the forest squatters in the pine treetops remain quiet, but not inactive. The “Stop Tesla” initiative has submitted an urgent application to the administrative court in Potsdam against the conditions imposed by the authorities for the protest. The activists are confident they will avoid eviction until the judges issue their verdict. Until then, they want to mobilize more people. It is said that more and more people are already joining the protest.
Brandenburg’s Interior Minister also does not remain idle: In order to prevent further attacks on the factory, Stübgen wants to increase the police presence on site. He also hopes to deter “previously uninterested, violent” people who now feel motivated to come to Brandenburg. “Leave it alone, it’s not worth it,” he reiterated.
Sources: “Stop Tesla”, Berlin Senate Chancellery, Nabu Berlin-Brandenburg, with material from DPA
