On saturday 26th june 2010, 200 people and 16 trucks, mobile homes and trailers demonstrated against the possible eviction of the trailerpark in Oldenburg.
The trailerpark has been at the premises of the former slaughterhouse „am Stau“ for 16 years now.
Since 2005, the city of Oldenburg plans to build a megalomaniac project at the site, the so called „Wasserstadt“ (Watercity).
A whole new quarter should arise on 10 hectares, with cold architecture, as investors like it and the promise of high income return. A marina and a maritime „competence-center“ should form the character of the new quarter, a four star hotel should bring guests. The vision is a „modern, urban quarter“ with beautiful villas and private jetties on little town canals, surrounded by 10.000 squaremeters of office space and a whole row of luxury restaurants. As the mayor of Oldenburg, Gerd Schwandner, states it, the target group for the whole project is the „big, future elite of Oldenburg“.
Therefore the oldtimerfriends, the containergalery „Conga“ and the trailerpark „am Stau“ have to get out of the way.
In 2008, public pressure grew after various protests of the trailerpark-people and the City council was forced to issue the following resolution: „living in trailers, trucks and busses, as it is practiced at the trailerpark (…) represents an accepted form of living, which should be guaranteed permanently on a preferably central site.“
Nevertheless the city of Oldenburg still sticks to the plan of removing the trailerpark from their current site for the watercity project, without having any concrete zoning ordinance and without beeing able to present an adequate replacement site. Therefore the motto of the demonstration was „we don`t move for a castle in the air“. At the buildingsite of the „ECE-Center“, a huge future shopping mall in the middle of the city, a banner was placed saying „A right to the city for everyone – sink the Wasserstadt! The trailerpark stays the way it wants to, where it wants to!“.
At a central square at the beginning of the walking zone a „preacher“ called attention to the contradictions of the „Wasserstadt“ project and the way the trailerpark is treated by the city and handed over a „replacement site“ in the shape of a 2x3m big wooden box with a miniature trailerpark on top. He told the city to take this replacement site in exchange because anyway they will never get the premises of the trailerpark „am Stau“.
As long as there is no concept with concrete plans for the site that make some kind of sense, the trailerpark is not willing to move elsewhere by no means.
The trailerpark in Oldenburg is a place for noncommercial kultural events and for living, that can not be removed to an other place just like that.
The demonstration was the highlight of the annual 3 days trailerpark-party with workshops and concerts. People from about 15 cities throughout Germany came to demonstrate their solidarity with the trailerpark in Oldenburg.
„The best place for trailors is still „der Stau“
Trailerpark in Oldenburg stays the way it is and where it is now!“
Translation from the original german article (with a few pictures of the demonstration): https://squat.net/de/news/oldenburg280610.html
