History of Europe

Despite the ban:large demo against the Brokdorf nuclear power plant in 1981

Around 100,000 people come to the Lower Elbe on February 28, 1981 for the largest German anti-nuclear demonstration to date. They protest against the construction of the Brokdorf nuclear power plant - despite the ban. In 1976 there were massive riots during the "Battle of Brokdorf".

by Kathrin Weber

February 28, 1981:On a Saturday, temperatures below zero, an icy east wind swept across northern Germany. People from all parts of the republic make their way to the Wilstermarsch. In the flat region on the Lower Elbe, a good 60 kilometers northwest of Hamburg, there is a small town that has attracted public attention since the mid-1970s:Brokdorf. In 1972, Kraftwerk Union AG decided to build a nuclear power plant there. In the years that followed, a broad protest was formed:in November 1976, a large demonstration with around 30,000 participants led to skirmishes between the police and demonstrators. In October 1977, the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court ordered an indefinite halt to construction because disposal had not yet been clarified. It was quiet for a good three years until the court lifted the building freeze on January 22, 1981.

ban on demonstrations in the Wilstermarsch:yes, no - yes

As early as February 26, 1981, opponents of nuclear power tried to block access to the construction site for the planned Brokdorf nuclear power plant. The police use water cannons.

As a result, opponents of nuclear power announced a large-scale demonstration for February 28, which the district administrator of the affected district of Steinburg had banned for the entire Wilstermarsch. A day before the planned protests, the administrative court in Schleswig lifted most of the ban. But only a few hours later - on the night of Saturday - the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court once again imposed a ban on demonstrations for the entire region. Numerous demonstrators had already arrived at this point.

Roadblocks are designed to stop protesters

Around 10,000 officers are on duty on February 28, 1981 to secure the construction site in Brokdorf.

Nevertheless, thousands of demonstrators streamed into the Wilstermarsch from different directions on Saturday morning. The police, expecting the protesters to want to get to the construction site, have set up extensive roadblocks. For example, they blocked the A7 near the Horster Dreieck for vehicles coming from the south for hours and set up a roadblock in Itzehoe. Many opponents of nuclear power still reach their goal - they have stayed overnight in the region, come by train or bypass the barriers.

At 10 a.m., the Federal Association of Citizens' Initiatives for Environmental Protection (BBU) will have a kick-off rally in the city of Wilster with around 10,000 participants. After the end, the demonstrators set off in two marches in the direction of Brokdorf. A group chooses the route via Dammfleth. There, the police have set up a barrier made of containers. However, demonstrators who allow themselves to be checked individually for weapons are allowed through. The lock will be removed later.

Fire bottles and stones:riots at the site fence

Armed with batons, stones or incendiary devices, not all demonstrators remain peaceful. In the afternoon there are violent attacks on the site fence.

About 35,000 demonstrators finally get through to the guarded construction site. Many have bypassed the barriers and made their way across fields and frozen ditches. Everything is going peacefully until violent clashes erupt in the afternoon right next to the site fence. While most of the protesters have already made their way back, around 3,000 militant demonstrators throw stones, fire bottles and projectiles at the officers. The police used tear gas, water cannons and helicopters and drove the demonstrators from the vicinity of the construction site. The opponents of nuclear power continued to retreat without major incidents. The police later reported 128 injured officers, the BBU 45 injured demonstrators, other sources speak of around 70.

Prevents or provokes violence?

With a total of up to 100,000 participants, the anti-nuclear demonstration went down as the largest in the history of the Federal Republic to date. The deployment of around 10,000 police officers is also a record.

Politicians praise the police operation as de-escalating, demo participants speak of provocations.

However, the assessment of the events is quite different. Politicians praise the use of the police as level-headed and de-escalating. It was thanks to the police, according to Schleswig-Holstein's interior minister at the time, Uwe Barschel (CDU), "that there were no worse riots." At the same time, they accuse the opponents of nuclear power of having disregarded the ban on demonstrations.

The opponents of nuclear power also see the day as a success. Green spokesman Roland Vogt speaks of a "triumph of the basic political right to free demonstration". The initiators of the protests, on the other hand, are critical of the behavior of the police. The police used water cannons against the demonstrators at a time when "there was absolutely no reason to do so," complained BBU board member Josef Leinen. The BBU also accuses the police of deliberately provoking the violent clashes in order to "discredit the previously peaceful and non-violent character of the demonstration".

The legal aftermath and a landmark judgment

Was the ban on the demonstration permissible? Did the police act appropriately? Have the demonstrators committed a crime? What remains are a lot of contradictions and unanswered legal questions. "Is it a criminal offense to take part in a banned demonstration but be allowed into the restricted area by the police?" Der Spiegel asks ironically in an article dated March 9, 1981.

In the years that followed, the Federal Constitutional Court dealt with these and other fundamental questions of the right to demonstrate and assemble, which had to rule on a constitutional complaint filed by a couple from Itzehoe about a violation of fundamental rights. On May 14, 1985, the Karlsruhe judges presented their vote. In the so-called Brokdorf verdict, they came to the conclusion that the 1981 ban on the demonstration was inadmissible. Peaceful citizens have a right to freedom of assembly. This is maintained even if riots by individuals or a minority are to be expected. A late victory for the protesters.

On the grid by the end of 2021 - the days of the Brokdorf nuclear power plant are numbered

The protest continues:in April 2010, around 100,000 opponents of nuclear power formed a human chain between the Krümmel and Brunsbüttel nuclear power plants.

In October 1986, the Brokdorf nuclear power plant went into operation - only a few months after the Chernobyl reactor catastrophe. In December 2001, the red-green majority in the Bundestag decided to phase out nuclear energy. Accordingly, the Brokdorf nuclear power plant should go offline in 2018. When the black and yellow federal government reversed the phase-out in October 2010, the cards were reshuffled:The always controversial power plant on the Lower Elbe is to produce electricity for much longer - according to the plans of the Schleswig-Holstein state government, around 2033. The serious nuclear accident in The Japanese Fukushima in March 2011 brings another turning point:At the end of May 2011, the federal government decides to completely phase out nuclear energy by 2022. The Brokdorf nuclear power plant is now supposed to supply electricity until the end of 2021.