Rush hour becomes standstill hour
Thursday morning, shortly after eight o'clock: nothing is moving on the A9 towards Munich. Miles of traffic jams, honking cars, annoyed commuters - and in the middle of it all: nine activists from the so-called "Resistance Collective". Their mission? To make a radical statement against the ongoing IAA motor show.
In the middle of rush-hour traffic, six of the activists sat down on the road - some stuck to the asphalt, others chained themselves together. Two others climbed a gantry and attached a banner with the words "IAA = climate hell". They also got stuck. The police were busy breaking up the blockade for hours.
It took several hours before the highway could be reopened. Traffic was slow to move - the traffic jam stretched well into the morning.
Climate vs. car - the eternal battle
The action is clearly directed against the IAA Mobility, which is currently taking place in Munich. In the eyes of the activists, the motor show stands for everything that is wrong with transport: too many cars, too little rethinking, too lax a climate policy.
One supporter puts it in a nutshell: "What we need are cities for people instead of cities for cars." The goal: a radical change in mobility - less metal, more life. To achieve this, the "Resistance Collective", an offshoot of the "Last Generation", took the risk of obstructing hundreds of thousands of commuters.
The police are now investigating for coercion and violations of the Assembly Act. The group itself is unimpressed - for them, one thing is certain: change only comes about through attention.
Symbolism, traffic jams and criminal offenses
Parallel to this action, other groups also caused a stir around the IAA: Attac, for example, placed a sinking car roof and a dinosaur head in the lake in front of the exhibition grounds - the car as an extinct species. The message: the time of the combustion engine is over.
Whether everyone sees it that way is questionable. CDU leader Merz recently spoke out against a general ban on combustion cars - so the debate remains hot. And the trade fair is currently being protected by around 8,000 police officers - not least because of the feared protests. And how is this to be assessed legally?
Road blockades of this kind are on thin ice in legal terms. Anyone who deliberately blocks traffic not only risks being charged with coercion, but may also be liable to prosecution if, for example, emergency vehicles are obstructed or danger is caused to other road users.
Regardless of the political cause: Actions that deliberately interfere with rush-hour traffic or block highways are difficult to reconcile with the right of assembly - especially if they are not registered or are carried out by dangerous means such as sticking or climbing on gantries.
It remains to be seen whether such forms of protest will be socially acceptable in the long term or whether they will meet with rejection. The fact is that there are strict legal limits here - and anyone who crosses them must expect consequences.
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