Free Republic of Wendland
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Free Republic of Wendland
de: Republik Freies Wendland
Micronation
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 Coat of arms
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| Status | Dissolved |
| Official languages | German |
| Organizational structure | Republic |
| Establishment | |
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• Declared
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3 May 1980 |
| Membership | Unknown |
| Claimed GDP (nominal) | estimate |
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• Total
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N/A |
| Purported currency | N/A |
The Free Republic of Wendland (from German Republik Freies Wendland) was a protest camp established in Gorleben, Germany, on 3 May 1980 to protest against the establishment of a nuclear waste dump there. On 4 June 1980, the police moved in and evicted the camp.
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt conducted drilling in Gorleben in 1979 in order to test the salt domes there for suitability in storing radioactive waste. After small occupations by local activists at drill sites 1002 and 1003 failed, a plan was set in motion for a bigger occupation action that would include international anti-nuclear activists. A new demonstration was called for on 3 May 1980, under the motto "Day of action for the Wends" (Kampftag der Wenden).
Around 5000 anti-nuclear activists moved to the planned area around drilling site 1004, between the villages of Gorleben and Trebel. There they occupied the area as part of a protest against further drilling for the purpose of storing nuclear waste. During the occupation, the so-called "Underground Office of Gorleben-Shall-Live" (Untergrundamt Gorleben-Soll-leben) declared the occupied area as an independent nation, naming it the Free Republic of Wendland (Republik Freies Wendland). The Lower-Saxon Minister of the Interior Egbert Möcklinghoff declared this proclamation to be high treason.
The site was created on an area of sandy soil and burned trees that was destroyed during the Fire on the Lüneburg Heath in 1975. On this location, the protesters built over the course of several days a village of around 110 huts, made from wood and clay, which was a typical style of protest for anti-nuclear activists at the time. Among the buildings were numerous community facilities, such as the 100-person-capacity Friendship House, greenhouses, an infirmary, a hairdressing salon and an area for waste disposal. There was also a sauna and bathing facilities. Water was piped in by a wind-powered well and warmed with solar power.
On the approach to the "republic", a border checkpoint with a boom barrier was built, over which the flags of the Wends and of the Anti-Nuclear-Sun were hoisted. In the nearby information center, a Wends Passport (Wendenpass) could be issued, along with an entry stamp, for 10 Deutsche Marks. In the words of the occupiers, the passport was good "for the entire universe [...] so long as its owner could still laugh."
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Wikipedia