75-year-old grandfather in court: disrupting climate protection!

75-year-old grandfather in court: disrupting climate protection!

In a remarkable case that has heated up emotions, 75-year-old Ernst Hörmann from Bavaria is standing trial in Neubrandenburg. Hörmann is a member of the controversial group “Last Generation”, which has attracted a lot of attention through its radical climate protests. He is charged with disrupting public operations and damaging property. However, the appeals chamber of the regional court only postponed the decision until December 1st, which delayed the verdict beyond his three months in prison. This prison sentence was imposed on him in September 2024 by the Neubrandenburg district court.

Hörmann, who spent his professional years as a mechanical engineer and railway official, sees himself as innocent and justifies his actions as “measures of civil disobedience”. The incidents with which he is accused occurred on two days in April 2022 when he and an accomplice unlocked fences and cut safety chains on an oil pipeline. This pipeline is essential for the petrochemical plant in Schwedt, which supplies large parts of eastern Germany with fuel. Hörmann argues that fossil fuels should no longer be processed in light of the climate crisis and points to the need for protests against “unjust laws.”

Focus on actions of the “last generation”.

The protests of the “Last Generation” are not new, but use a concept that has been known as “civil disobedience” since the 19th century. The father of this philosophy, Henry David Thoreau, argued that it takes a certain amount of courage to break the law when society is unjust. His ideas can also be found today in the tactics of Hörmann and his group. This activist strategy ranges from road blockades to direct confrontations with politicians to draw attention to the climate emergency. A concept that is discussed by both the liberal public and the media and evokes emotions.

The “Last Generation” recently announced that it would increase its focus on public appearances by politicians in order to gain their attention directly. However, critics complain that such actions do not reflect the interests of the general population and that activists often use them as “staffage”. The criminal offense of coercion under which many of them are charged is interpreted differently in practice and depends on the circumstances of the blockades.

Public discussion and future outlook

Civil disobedience enjoys a polarized debate. While some see the actions of the “Last Generation” as necessary measures to save the climate, others reject these approaches as a threat to basic democratic values. Three basic positions emerge: the rejection, the affirmation and the negation of civil disobedience in the context of the existing constitutional state. The latter sees the necessity of breaking the law in order to draw attention to political grievances. According to experts, this could lead to a tension that will continue to shape social discussion in the coming years.

The future remains uncertain for Ernst Hörmann. He lives on a modest budget with 1,781 euros per month and now has to take care of 16 open cases for blockade actions at the same time. Meanwhile, his accomplice received a seven-month prison sentence, which was offset against another prison sentence. The coming days will be crucial, not only for Hörmann, but also for the debate about civil disobedience in Germany.

Find out more about the background to this debate in the reports from Northern Courier, Deutschlandfunk, and bpb.