Overview
- Officers moved in before dawn on November 12 to dismantle the encampment by the Langener Waldsee, with police describing the situation as calm, and the start date for felling remains unspecified.
- Eight activists were in tree structures during the operation and by afternoon six had been brought down safely by specialists, with identities recorded and trespass under review.
- Activists from the ‘Wald Statt Asphalt’ alliance had occupied the site since summer 2024 to oppose clearing linked to a planned expansion of sand and gravel extraction.
- The clearance rests on a 2013 authorization and the Darmstadt authority’s removal of special forest status, which the Federal Administrative Court affirmed in 2022.
- The city says the camp violated property rights and caused damage estimated above €200,000, and a court this week blocked the city’s attempt to relocate a solidarity vigil.