A recent spate of climate change protests at museums across Europe involved cheap tricks with everyday items like glue, tomato soup and mashed potatoes. Instead, some German activists now face fines.
Just last week, mashed potatoes were thrown at a Claude Monet painting in Potsdam’s Barberini Museum.
Its director, Ortrud Westheider, has announced that it is considering a claim for damages against the protesters. monopole magazine.
Deutsches Museum founder Hasso Plattner has decided to close the facility until October 30 to assess the effectiveness of the protection currently in place.
On August 23, two climate activists from the German group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) glued their hands to Raphael’s frame. Our Lady of Sistine At the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden. Although the photo itself was intact, the act left traces of glue and damaged the patina of the frame in the area where the hand was placed.
The museum had to be temporarily closed, resulting in €7,000 ($7,000) in lost revenue and work removed for a potentially €5,000 ($5,000) restoration process .
Presumably hoping to recover these costs, the Dresden State Art Collection (Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden or SKD) filed a complaint with the city public prosecutor’s office on the grounds of “damage to property harmful to the community”, claiming damages. I started a civil lawsuit.
The two protesters were also barred from entering all 15 SKD museums.
Despite the risk of fines, such attacks show no signs of slowing down.
Last week, October 19, 14 activists from environmental group Scientist Rebellion held a sit-in protest at Volkswagen’s Autostadt Museum in Wolfsburg, clinging to the floor of a Porsche display. Protesters called for a meeting with Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume and the imposition of a 100 km/h speed limit in Germany.
Because the museum recognized their right to protest, the scientists were not removed by authorities, but instead left on the premises overnight and removed from the site early Friday morning (October 21). , issued a statement reporting that the actions resulted in property damage.
“The Autostadt is known as a meeting place for people from all over the world and as a platform for the exchange of communication and is always open to factual criticism,” the statement read. “With this basic stance, we sought to defuse tensions and actively participate in constructive dialogue.”
The museum said it was forced to wipe out the pavilion when the sitters threatened a hunger strike and their health began to deteriorate.
On Twitter, Scientist Rebellion said: Before the people reached Autostadt, they quietly called the police and peacefully eliminated the protesting scientists. ”
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