Occupy Frankfurt

Occupy Will Survive the Camp Clearances.

The Occupy camp in Frankfurt has finally been cleared after a court rejected an appeal by activists. The attempt to set up a utopia in Germany's financial capital may have failed, but the movement will continue to play an important role in the debate about a better society.

The Occupy camp in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt was supposed to be a parable of society. The settlement with its colorfully decorated tents featured the so-called "Mountain of Problems," a small hill where an artist staged a hunger strike to draw attention to the plight of the Earth. There was also the "Bank Hygiene Department," a makeshift structure which acted as a symbolic prison for supposedly evil bank bosses.

This utopian mini-state in the center of the German financial capital lasted for 297 days. It was finally cleared by police on Monday afternoon after a court rejected an appeal by protesters against a ban on the camp. The court ruled that the residents of the site could be evicted because they lacked a common goal and that the occupation of the site was not protected by the right to freedom of assembly.

The Occupy camps may slowly be disappearing, but they have already significantly influence the public debate and will likely to continue to do so.