Bruno Schmitz

The time was ripe to take a different approach against the fast breeder nuclear reactor in Kalkar. That meant no more letters to the editor, no more flyers, no more chats with local politicians, but rather taking the protest to the streets.

And doing so with a certain vociferousness, a certain clarity, a certain force and power. This was my cause and the cause of others who were against the “fast breeder”. We thought we have to be a stronger, louder presence. So then in January ‘77 we founded the citizens’ action group “Stop Kalkar”. There were 50,000 of us demonstrating in the town square of Kalkar. We started late, had originally planned to begin around 11 or 12 with rallies and speeches. That got pushed back by two, three hours. We had limited contact with people. They would call in from different telephone booths and so on, since there were no mobile phones back then. They said, we’re here or there or somewhere else at the moment. So, it wasn’t until afternoon, late afternoon, that we set out from Kalkar towards Hönnepel and the “fast breeder” and Farmer Maas’ fields that were right across from the breeder. That was our destination where we would hold another rally. There was no stage, only the stairs leading up to the town hall. That’s where we stood, the speakers, the bands and us. And our amplifiers were on top of VW vans. Those two Peavey amps boomed out across the entire square. 50,000 people. And you could understand every word, even at the very back of the square.