Hainburger-Au-Besetzung#

Hainburg Au, Occupation of: The power station to be built by the Oesterreichische Donaukraftwerke AG close to Hainburg was pronounced a priority project on December 22, 1984. After plans had been officially approved by the provincial government of Lower Austria as the nature conservation authority on November 26, 1984 and by the Ministry of Agriculture on December 5, 1984 work was begun at Stopfenreuth. On December 8 the Austrian Students´ Union organised a protest march setting off from various points and meeting in the Hainburger Au wetlands; several hundred people occupied the area and forced workers to stop land clearances. The Hainburger Au was declared a prohibited area by the authorities, resulting in clashes between 2,000 policemen and 4,000 demonstrators on December 19; 26 people were injured. On December 21, 1984 the federal government stopped the land clearances. The Konrad Lorenz popular initiative of March 4 - 11, 1985 called for a ban of large-scale power stations such as Hainburg and demanded the setting up of a national park in the area of the Hainburg wetlands; it was signed by 353,906 people. On July 1, 1986 the administrative court revoked the original ruling. Since 1996 the area has been part of the Donau-Auen national park.

The occupation of the Hainburger Au was of great importance for both environmental and democratic policy in Austria.

Literature#