{"id":1162,"date":"2010-10-13T09:24:12","date_gmt":"2010-10-13T09:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2010-10-12T09:24:35","modified_gmt":"2010-10-12T09:24:35","slug":"stuttgart-21-%e2%80%93-the-escalation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/stuttgart-21-%e2%80%93-the-escalation\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuttgart 21 \u2013 The escalation"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is about one of the most current political matter that we have in Germany these weeks: The railway project Stuttgart 21.<\/p>\n

The project is about building a new underground main station and new rail tracks in Stuttgart to make train service more efficient. Therefore a part of the park has to be deformed and about 300 trees have to be chopped down.<\/p>\n

The project was planned for 15 years and since some months it is legitimized by the state and by law. The construction works have begun. But at the same time a protest movement appeared. So since weeks there are a lot of demonstrations against Stuttgart 21. The protesters complain about the unmanageable costs, the long construction time (about 15 years!) and ecological matters.<\/p>\n

Some weeks ago, the government announced, that the first trees in the park could be chopped down on October 1st<\/sup>. So on September 30th<\/sup> police came to the park with about 1.000 people, water cannons and horses. At the same time a demonstration of school kids took place in the park. Through internet and other media, people saw that the police was there with a massive contingent and went there as well. The situation escalated when the police tried to clear certain areas for the construction workers.<\/p>\n

After some hours I also had the chance to go there. This is what I could capture on camera:<\/p>\n