In an effort to pressure the government to take greater action to address the climate catastrophe, a group of German environmental activists called off their lengthy hunger strike on Thursday.
Wolfgang Metzeler-Kick, the group’s initial member, stopped eating, and the protest—which had the slogan “starving until you tell the truth”—began in early March.
The 49-year-old went on a 92-day hunger strike before being brought to the hospital in early June, but he is said to have carried on for a few more days after that.
Another seven people joined the fast over the weeks, with the group setting up a camp in a central Berlin park.
Some started eating again in recent weeks and the rest announced they will now end their hunger strike.
According to their statement, the action was taken to draw attention to the fact that “the continued existence of human civilisation is endangered by the climate catastrophe” and to call for a “radical” shift in direction.
Ending the strike at the end of May, according to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, was not the appropriate approach to start a discussion about whether Germany was doing enough to combat climate change.
In order to spread their message in Germany, climate campaigners have turned to some visually striking antics.
The radical group Letzte Generation (“Last Generation”) has staged numerous sit-in protests on busy roadways, adhering their hands to the pavement.
Protesters have also thrown mashed potatoes over a Claude Monet painting in Potsdam and glued themselves to an exhibition of a dinosaur skeleton at Berlin’s Natural History Museum.
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