Police clear Dondorf print shop occupied by activists

Demonstration - Police clear Dondorf print shop occupied by activists

On Thursday, the police cleared the interior of the squatted former Dondorf printing works in Frankfurt. There were 14 activists there, the police announced in the afternoon. Their identities were established for possible criminal proceedings for trespassing and they were then released. There are currently 18 more people on the roof of the printing works. According to a spokesperson, the roof was not evacuated for safety reasons.

"No one is currently leaving the roof," said a spokesperson for the activists. However, they were in negotiations. A statement issued in the early evening said: "The people who are currently still on the roof are not prepared to leave voluntarily as long as the Dondorf print shop is under siege and sealed off by the police. If necessary, they will spend the nights up there."

The police said that the people on the roof had been offered the opportunity to leave the area via an emergency and escape route. The offer was declined.

According to the police, around 30 people tried to prevent the police from entering the building at the beginning of the operation. They were pushed away, according to a statement. In addition, there had been a massive use of pyrotechnics at the windows of the print shop when the police arrived, and the fire department had also been alerted as a precautionary measure. Barricades had been erected in the building and officers had been pelted with feces and urine. No one was injured.

According to the police, people gathered on the street next to the building and two of them were arrested after attacking an officer. Other people from the group tried to free them. According to the police, they used pepper spray against one of these people.

The collective known as "Die Druckerei" has been occupying the former Dondorf printing works in Frankfurt's Bockenheim district for the second time this year since last weekend. The activists rejected an appeal by Goethe University, which has the right to evict the building, to voluntarily vacate the premises by Wednesday afternoon.

"We made it clear from the outset that an illegal occupation of the building is unacceptable," said University President Enrico Schleiff. "A voluntary eviction would have allowed us to pursue a common path of de-escalation and discourse with the city and state about the future of the Dondorf print shop and other issues." However, according to the collective, they only saw this as "unclear promises". "The fight to preserve the building will continue," announced the collective's spokesperson. A repeat occupation is not ruled out.

The activists are calling for the building to be preserved as an industrial and cultural monument. It is to be demolished to make way for a new building for the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA). The building, which belongs to the state of Hesse, most recently housed the Institute for Art Education at Goethe University.

According to the Left Party parliamentary group in the state parliament, "all parties involved should return to the negotiating table quickly". The police eviction was unnecessary. "Instead of responding to the squatters' collective's offer to negotiate and leave the building on their own, the management of Goethe University is trying to create facts by force with the help of the police. We strongly condemn this action," said Elisabeth Kula, chair of the parliamentary group.

Initiative

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The activists, who have been occupying the former Dondorf printing works at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main in the Bockenheim district since the last weekend, rejected the university's appeal to vacate the premises voluntarily.
The police cleared the interior of the squatted Dondorf print shop in Frankfurt on the Main, leading to negotiations between the activists and the authorities regarding the removal of the remaining 18 individuals on the roof.
The weekend occupation of the Dondorf print shop by the collective "Die Druckerei" in Frankfurt's Bockenheim district has sparked calls for preservation of the building as an industrial and cultural monument, opposed to its demolition for a new building for the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA).
The Hochschule für Raumplanung und Umwelt in Frankfurt am Main, the operator of the real estate where the Dondorf print shop is located, is facing criticism due to its decision to demolish the building, which most recently housed the Institute for Art Education at Goethe University.
The police eviction of the Dondorf print shop in Frankfurt am Main led to a response from the Left Party parliamentary group in the state parliament, condemning the forceful action and urging all parties to return to the negotiating table for a peaceful resolution.

Source: www.stern.de