Climate Zealots Deface Germany’s Iconic Brandenburg Gate, Restoration Estimate Escalates
The color that was used has seeped deeper into the sandstone monument than originally thought. Over one dozen were arrested for their involvement in the defacing.
The barbarians are now in Germany, this time, they are taking the form of climate crisis zealots intent on destroying icons of Western Civilization.
The last time they struck, activists climbed into the Trevi Fountain in Rome and poured diluted charcoal into the water to turn it black. Two weeks ago, Germany’s famous Brandenburg Gate was defaced and damaged by eco-extremists.
Climate activists sprayed orange and yellow paint on the columns of Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to push demands for a stop to the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
“Members of the so-called ‘Last Generation’ sprayed the columns on the east side of the Brandenburg Gate with orange paint from fire extinguishers during the morning,” Berlin police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
It added that police officers noticed a hydraulic lift was being operated at the gate and they kept the protesters from scaling the landmark building. They arrested all 14 protesters at the site and launched an investigation into property damage.
The Last Generation, a Germany-based group within the Europe-wide A22 network that includes Britain’s Just Stop Oil, has made headlines in Germany with hundreds of road blocks by protesters who glued themselves to the tarmac.
Due to the nature of the damage inflicted, the costs associated with restoration have escalated.
The cost of cleaning the gate was initially put at about 35,000 euros ($36,900). But the management company, Berliner Immobilienmanagement, made clear that it now expects a bigger and much more expensive effort.
The color that was used has seeped deeper into the sandstone monument than originally thought because of its water content, BIM said in a statement. It added that various cleaning techniques have been tested, and a combination of those methods will probably have to be used — as well as the potential use of laser technology.
That means the cleaning work will probably take “several weeks” and the costs will increase, BIM added. It said that it’s not currently possible to give a precise figure, but it expects “costs in the six-digit region” because scaffolding will have to put up around parts of the gate.
Such tactics have led to a drop in support for climate activists’ policies. One such poll focused on German opinions.
A 2022 survey conducted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center found that Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of these sorts of stunts.
In fact, 46% of respondents said nonviolent disruptive protests decrease their support for efforts to address climate change, and a mere 13% said they increase them.
A similar poll from Germany found that 83% of respondents felt climate protests had gone too far.
Over one dozen people were arrested in association with the damage.
The protesters’ actions were condemned by Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner who told German news agency DPA that these tactics went beyond legitimate forms of protest.
“The group is not only damaging the historic Brandenburg Gate, but also our free discourse about the important issues of our time and future,” he said.
German police have confirmed that they detained 14 people affiliated with the campaign group and have opened an investigation into criminal damage to the property.
Posting images of the action on X, formerly known as Twitter, Last Generation said it would only stop protesting once change begins.
Until the media dials back climate panic, legislatures and leaders weigh other studies and historical evidence related to climate fairly and objectively, and those who despoil cultural icons are effectively punished, expect more monuments that attest to the beauty and greatness of Western Civilization to be targeted.
Groups like “Last Generation” and “Extinction Rebellion” apparently want us to be the last generation and extinct . . . so they will never be satisfied no matter the “change” enacted.
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Comments
Until they pay with extended prison sentences.. years, and thrown in jail immediately, not allowed to chain themselves, block roads ( really liked the Indian res police) , destroy history and art, much like the Taliban, nothing will change
Give it to them good and hard
Agreed. I know a way they ‘will stop protesting’ without their Cray Cray climate goal BS being implemented. Lock them behind bars and keep them there. Heck create a new statutory offense that encompasses these actions; cultural terrorism, with long mandatory prison stretches. Could use this sort of statute in the US as well.
Alternative sentences:
Tattoo VANDAL on their forehead in International Orange.
Glue their hands to the Gate’s ceiling, then remove the scaffolding.
Euthanasia would help with Climate Change by reducing their carbon dioxide load on the environment.
If they were true believers, they’d have offed themselves already.
I’d shoot them, spray paint their bodies, then leave them on the sidewalk to rot. The problem will disappear.
Don’t forget the monetary damages. These are the people who believe in “reparations,” after all.
Chances of conviction? Marginal.
Significant additional jail time? Nil
Which is exactly why this keeps happening.
If you have the facts you pound the facts, if you have the law you pound the law, if you have eight I guess you deface property you don’t own.
I assume it honors the concertos. Probably the interminable harpsichord solo of the 5th Brandenburg concerto, tedious and mechanical, yet at the same time mechanizing, not so much because of the music but the logic, as Francis Ponge put it.
Zealots come in many colors.
As for the Brandenburg Gate – Tor, it was the location for Kraut triumphals. The Russians shot it to hell during the battle of Berlin, and I’m somewhat surprised they left it standing.
The Brandenburg Gate Kaliningrad is pretty cool, though the Russians have neglected it, which just happens to be something the Russians have perfected.
It is an insane religion for sure.
Knew it has been there a long time but looked it up to be sure. 1788-1791,
Have no doubt that the paint soaked into the stone work and might not be ever removed totally.
You can’t take monuments or architecture for what one group declares them to be. The Nazis didn’t build it and their little contribution was removed.
It seems like the contractor is inflating the job costs for political purposes. Fine, milk the eco-zealots.
Gee, they look Doric to me.
Ha ha. I studied some classical Greek in college. Good one!
Water-based paint…hum…have them lick the paint off the columns as punishment… in the slammer and only out to lick and lick…. and lick.
As long as we’re all aware that “water-based” doesn’t imply “non-toxic.”