Students block Berlin and Hamburg university buildings over education cuts

Berlin blockade and university response

Students have blocked the Otto-Suhr-Institut (OSI) of Freie Universität (FU) Berlin since Wednesday morning, 28 October. The university confirmed the blockade, which it placed in the outdoor area in front of the institute for political science. Tagesspiegel reported that the building had been occupied, and it described the scene around 10 o'clock as calm and peaceful, with university management on site and police not expected to attend at first. The FU said it was monitoring the situation closely and asked all lecturers to move their classes online that day to keep teaching going. A press conference in front of the institute was announced for the afternoon.

“The Freie Universität Berlin respects the right to peaceful protest, as long as it remains non-violent.”

Demands and the action committee

The Gen Z regelt action committee at the FU published a statement on Instagram calling for the reversal of university cuts. According to the statement, funding is being withdrawn from Berlin's universities and from education and social institutions, while money in the billions flows into armament that the authors say is urgently needed for training and study. Protesters also reject militarisation and the introduction of conscription, and they criticise what they describe as complicity in war crimes. The committee's central complaint reads as follows.

“The TU's buildings are falling apart, and at the FU the last remnants of critical teaching are about to be cut without replacement.”

Why the institute was chosen

According to the authors, the Otto-Suhr-Institut was picked because its political science programme would suffer massive damage, and positions held by popular staff members would be cut. A post on Instagram shared by the FU's student body (Asta), which carried content from SDS Berlin and the Solidarisches Komitee FU under the title Fed up with cuts and militarisation, described the Berlin action as the first strike blockade. The FU linked the occupation to youth protests in France, and a participant on site said protests from France were slowly reaching Germany.

Hamburg and Leipzig

In Hamburg, demonstrators blocked a building of the Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW) at Finkenau, and images circulating on social media showed a large police presence. Police spoke of around 50 participants in the Hamburg action, an assembly that had at first not been registered. In Leipzig, several social media accounts reported that activists blocked the entrance to the main campus with fences, bins and bicycle locks. Those Leipzig reports come from social media, and the coverage contains no official confirmation.

Nationwide protest day on 31 October

The action committee called on students to join the nationwide protest day Gen Z regelt on 31 October. Before the actions, reports had speculated about possible violence at student protests in Germany, but the accounts from Wednesday describe the Berlin scene as calm. The FU has said it tolerates protest only while it stays non-violent.