A wave of protest has overrun Germany. People everywhere are coming out against politicians' pet projects. Democracy seems alive and kicking, but oftentimes self-interest and the general welfare collide head-on. And this naysaying spree could stymie the country's modernisation. It's Wednesday afternoon in Stuttgart, the sun is shining, the lawn needs mowing again, but Sylvia Heimsch knows she's needed elsewhere. She glances at the webcam, which is beaming images of construction work on Stuttgart's main train station straight into her living room. Then she grabs her police whistle and trekking shoes and drives downtown with her son. For months now Sylvia Heimsch (47) has been fighting the mega-project "Stuttgart 21". She is among the organisers of the "Park Protectors" bent on keeping nearly 300 old trees from being felled in the Stuttgart palace gardens. Last Wednesday Heimsch gathered with about a hundred other protesters for a sit-in on Highway 14 in Stuttgart. Heimsch bears little resemblance to past activists in West Germany. She's not against the establishment, she's part of it. She lives with her husband and three children in a revamped Jugendstil house. "Doctors, teachers, engineers and lawyers come out for our Monday rallies," she says: "these people are pillars of society, but they won't stand for this political insanity any more."
It's Wednesday afternoon in Stuttgart, the sun is shining, the lawn needs mowing again, but Sylvia Heimsch knows she's needed elsewhere. She glances at the webcam, which is beaming images of construction work on Stuttgart's main train station straight into her living room. Then she grabs her police whistle and trekking shoes and drives downtown with her son.
For months now Sylvia Heimsch (47) has been fighting the mega-project "Stuttgart 21". She is among the organisers of the "Park Protectors" bent on keeping nearly 300 old trees from being felled in the Stuttgart palace gardens. Last Wednesday Heimsch gathered with about a hundred other protesters for a sit-in on Highway 14 in Stuttgart. Heimsch bears little resemblance to past activists in West Germany. She's not against the establishment, she's part of it. She lives with her husband and three children in a revamped Jugendstil house. "Doctors, teachers, engineers and lawyers come out for our Monday rallies," she says: "these people are pillars of society, but they won't stand for this political insanity any more."
it's about freaking time the pillars of the community (sic) realised their protests count more than DFHs' and woke up and smelled the java. good for germans, it's never too late to latch on to a good thing like saving trees... until it is. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
