It all started in spring 2024. With people from different social struggles united around the care for the earth, for our communities and friends, for land, water and forests! For the good life for all: disrupting destructive systems and building utopias!
First thematic phase: mobility. It is often important to set a certain focus; we initially focused on the topic of mobility. We have campaigned for a fair and inclusive mobility transition from a wide variety of groups and approaches.
Protests against Tesla
In addition to the fascist Elon Musk, Tesla is above all symbolic of the electric SUV, of the adherence to so-called “individual transportation”: mobility of inequality and injustice. Tesla stands for a sham solution. They are the continuation of the individual transportation craze by other means. And that is neither sustainable nor green. The production of an e-car creates an enormous ecological “tire” (foot)print due to the consumption of resources and thus drives the global climate catastrophe forward. Electric cars are not a clean alternative.
November 2019 in Grünheide, just outside Berlin: Tesla begins construction of its Tesla Gigafactory without a permit. More than 90 hectares of forest are cleared. This location is particularly unsuitable for such a factory, as local water supplies are scarce and such a factory requires vast amounts of water. The consequences are catastrophic for nature and the local population. Despite massive criticism, the plant is completed and opened in 2021. 2024: In the course of a planned expansion with three further expansion stages, the plant was to become the largest car factory in Europe. We opposed this together with our allies. To protect the water and the forest (planned clearing for the plant) and to prevent Tesla from building even more climate-destructive and exploitative vehicles.
Mobilization for action days
We have called on people to take part in the days of action against Tesla: From May 08 to 12, 2024.
The mobilization phase will begin with numerous forms of action and further protests against Tesla in spring 2024.
Cornern against Tesla
Berlin, Heinrichplatz on April 28, 2024: Hundreds of people set an example for a fair mobility transition with a form of action called “Cornern”. A street festival against Tesla: Heinrichplatz is transformed in a colorful and active way.
Aktionen in Hamburg
In Hamburg, activists ( such as “Ende-Gelände” and “Antifa Hoheluft”) organized several spectacular banner drops to mobilize for the Disrupt action days against Tesla, which also received a lot of media attention.
Water demonstration
March 2024: Together with delegates from “Les Soulèvements de la Terre” (“Uprisings of the Earth”) in Keyenberg. Just as in Grünheide due to the construction of Tesla's monster factory, distribution struggles over water and land are also coming to a head in France. Soulevements de la Terre is successfully fighting against destructive large-scale industrial projects and for social land and water justice.
Water-forest occupation
In order to prevent the expansion of the Tesla Gigafactory, activists from “Tesla Stoppen” occupied a small forest adjacent to the factory at the beginning of March 2024.
Days of action against Tesla
Unserem Aufruf zu den Aktionstagen im Mai 2024 waren Tausende Menschen gefolgt.
Camp lasting several days
In addition to numerous activities, a multi-day camp with a varied program, opportunities to network and build utopias awaited people on site.
Massenaktion
Thousands of activists demonstrate in several places at the same time: demos, blockades and art actions.
On the factory premises
Around 800 activists made it to the Tesla “Gigafactory” site
United and in solidarity, we interrupted operations at Tesla.
Further actions
Other activities also took place as part of the Disrupt Tesla Days.
Some activists projected messages onto the Tesla factory wall, while other activists redecorated the Tesla showroom and dropped a huge banner.
More protests against Tesla
Even after the days of action against Tesla, several actions against Tesla have taken place, in addition to the ongoing protests in the water forest and the work of the local citizens' initiative, as well as other groups, work on the expansion of the Tesla factory has been repeatedly disrupted: through art and/or sabotage actions.
Further protests against car companies
In addition to the protests against Tesla, actions against Mercedes, VW and Porsche also took place last year. Car companies are doing everything they can to prevent a real and just mobility transition. Their only goal is to make billions in profits by producing cars, destroying our future and perpetuating injustice.
Tyre Extinguishers" campaign: sabotage against SUVs
Early March 2024: Activists deflated the tires of numerous #SUVs. As part of the “Tyre Extinguishers” global day of action, which has been calling for SUVs to be “disarmed” in cities worldwide for two years, they left a clearly visible note on the vehicles warning them not to drive off and explaining the reasons for the action.
Gremberger Wäldchen
In June 2024, some activists actively opposed the expansion of the A4: “Occupation in defense of the forest against the expansion of the A4”
In the south of Cologne, activists are occupying the Gremberger Wäldchen. In addition to protecting against a planned partial clearing and thus protecting a valuable and old tree population in the grove, the activists are also using their actions to send a signal against the “cementing” of a misguided transport policy in the midst of the global climate catastrophe.
Protest gegen Mercedes
In April 2024: several activists chained themselves to rails in front of the Mercedes plant near Bremen and prevented the export of car trains with hundreds of luxury cars. Masses of resource- and energy-guzzling cars; that's what Mercedes stands for.
"Despite the worsening climate crisis, Mercedes continues to produce. Cars for private transport roll off the production line here in Bremen, purely for profit. Most of the world's Mercedes cars are produced here. The biggest profit margin is achieved with large and heavy luxury cars for the rich."
Proteste gegen VW
Wolfsburg in March: protesting together with activists and employees in front of the VW plant for the socialization of Volkswagen. Some activists occupied the roof of a driveway to the VW plant site: "60,000 employees work here in Wolfsburg alone and have to fear for their jobs thanks to the Board of Management's performance program. Meanwhile, the shareholders' meeting has begun in a virtual room, where billions in dividends are to be paid out to a very few, very rich people. That's screamingly unfair!"
What is produced in VW's factories must be geared to the needs of the people and not dictated by profiteers. Democratic and democratically in the hands of the workers: Volkswagen's factories could be converted to build cargo bikes, buses and even trains.
Protest against VW subsidiary Porsche
The Bosco is a 200-hectare old holm oak forest in Apulia that is protected as a Natura 200 site. Porsche wanted to have this forest felled to expand a test track for luxury cars. In March 2024 in Wolfsburg: Robin Wood activists demand: Save the Bosco d'Arneo!
Porsche shareholders' meeting
Stuttgart in June 2024: Against the Porsche shareholders' meeting! Ende Gelände activists sent a clear signal with a banner, pyrotechnics and a climbing action, demanding the socialization of Porsche and pointing out the destruction of the Bosco holm oak forest.
Protest against Porsche's Nazi past
In addition to the destructive practice, activists at the Porsche Group also denounced the lack of reappraisal of the Nazi past.
At the end of May 2024, a group makes a statement by symbolically renaming the Porsche Stadium the Sara Frenkel Stadium. Ferdinand Porsche, the supposedly brilliant designer, profited massively from the exploitation of forced laborers under National Socialism. These 20,000 forced laborers and the connection with the Nazis have been concealed by the Porsche Group to this day and have not been dealt with. Hence the renaming of the stadium as the Sara Frenkel Stadium.
Frenkel is a Jewish Polish woman and former forced laborer at VW, a direct victim of National Socialism. To this day, she is committed to commemorating the children of forced laborers who perished back then.
On January 1, 2025, activists once again set an example against Porsche founder and Hitler friend Ferdinand and his son.
In the Porsche Museum, activists are adding the concealed Nazi past to their biographies. And outside the museum, too, activists are bringing Porsche's concealed crimes to light.
“The wealth of the Porsche family is based on the exploitation of more than 20,000 forced laborers who built today's VW main plant in Wolfsburg during the Third Reich.” Wolfgang Porsche disgustingly still explains his success today with the “Porsche genius”. That is inhuman and oblivious to history! We need genuine anti-fascism - more urgently than ever. Explain activists.s
Further actions
Mobility and the dark past of car companies and their destructive practices were not our only topics.
Disrupt Sehring
Even before the Tesla Action Days, activists directly implemented climate protection measures. February 2024: Activists visit a controversial gravel company in the Langener Bannwald forest.
Actions as part of the SCC
As part of the System Change Camp 2024 in Erfurt and the election campaign taking place in Tringen, numerous small groups took a stand against the AfD and the shift to the right. Unknown people removed right-wing propaganda, made racist street names unrecognizable and also actively opposed an AfD appearance.
Banner drop at the spring tower
Nürnberg im Februar 2025: Eine Aktionsgruppe droppte in einer spektakulären Aktion mehrere Banner von einem 70 Meter hohen Turm. Auf allen vier Seiten droppen die Gruppe und setzen so für jene Themen ein Zeichen, welche in dem diesjährigen Wahlkampf zu kurz kamen.
"We take our lives into our own hands! Live resistant, become ungovernable - put a stop to this racist, anti-queer and anti-disabled agitation and the destruction of our livelihoods. We are the firewall! But voting is not enough! The political theater does not serve us and our fellow human beings - an alternative is to strengthen and build solidary communities! We need to support each other instead of fighting for a higher place in the elbow society." reads the text from the action group. To the post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGYN5JQsQk-/
We remain committed: For a good life beyond capitalism!
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