Invitation to our open meeting 🌱
Monday 20.04. at 7 pm at M1 (Mokrystr. 1, Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, DE)
Spring has arrived and we finally have time to take a deep breath. We return to our work with fresh energy and are happy for you to join us.
If you want to you can immediatly dive into preparing our part for 48h Wilhelmsburg.
As always we are also already preparing for the next cutting season.
Wild Forest stays! 🖤
Slowly spring is showing it’s face and we are holding a vigil at the Wiwa again! Come around next sunday, the 12th of April, drink a tea with us, talk about the current situation of the forest or go on the bird tour with the Waldretter*innen.
We will also have a vegan picknick, if you want to eat something with us we would appreciate it if you bring your own tableware and cuttlery :)
Viva la WiWa! We want to celebrate the end of the clearing season together!
On February 28 we are hosting a party à la WiWa in the Infoladen Wilhelmsburg. Be excited for our Soli beverage the ANTIFAhne, cake and the coolest forest decorations 🌱🔥
Celebrate with us 💚 we start at 8 pm until about 1 am 🎉
We wish for a moderate consumption of alcohol, we are only serving drinks with less than 6% alcohol. The soli beverage is alcohol free. Smoking is only allowed outside.
Accessibility: The Infoladen is accessible via three steps. A mobile ramp is available.There is a single all-gender toilet. It is spacious but has no grab rails. There is no baby changing table.
64 years ago, on the night of February 16, 1962, Hamburg was hit by a devastating storm surge. Where the Wild Forest stands today, there used to be temporary after-war housing. When the Spreehafen dike broke, most of the 315 flood victims died on these grounds.
Today, we remember all the flood victims and fight to ensure that the Wild Forest can continue to grow. In the face of the ever-worsening climate catastrophe, it is irresponsible to destroy and seal off more natural areas!
This is what it looked like right after the great flood in the space the wild forest grows in now. Some foundations of old garden houses can still be found here under bushes.
Attention: This post contains images of severed trees/branches, clearing vehicals and freshly cut deadwood.
On Monday, 2. February 2026 at around 11 o’clock a truck,
On Monday, 2 February, at around 11 a.m., a van, a lorry and a harvester belonging to the company Arbor Artist drove into the forest. We knew from the Parks Department (Grünflächenamt) that ‘road safety work’ was to take place that day. Nevertheless, we decided to stay, observe and ensure that the cut wood remained in the forest.
The Parks Department has classified two trees as dangerous. One is a willow tree to the left of the tree house and the other is to the left of the entrance to the clearing. The forest workers cut them down to 8 metres and 6 metres respectively. At our request, the workers, who, by the way, spoke out in favour of preserving the Wild Forest, left the cut wood in the forest.
The Parks Department had actually promised us that they would instruct tree care workers to leave dead wood in the forest. However, the workers on site were unaware of this and had to make a follow-up phone call. During two further tree maintenance projects at the turn of the year, a large proportion of the felled wood was not left in the forest either!
The next day, activists scattered one of the piles of wood into smaller piles in the forest, while we left the second one alone. These piles of dead wood are excellent insect hotels, shelters and food sources! 🐜We are critical of cutting down entire tree crowns; the WiWa is a forest, not a park where everything has to be neat and tidy. Moreover, there are alternatives to felling half a tree.
To our knowledge, no further tree maintenance work is planned for this clearing season. Nevertheless, we remain vigilant! ✊ #WildForestStaysWild
There is no conflict of objectives: wild forests will remain wild!
What happened?
At the public hearing ‘Wild Forest/Spreehafenviertel: Taking the conflict of objectives seriously’ (“Wilder Wald/ Spreehafenviertel: Zielkonflikt erstnehmen”) on 3 February 2026, the politicians of the district assembly, who will decide on the futur of the Wild Forest, and the public were to be informed. To this end, the political parties invited experts and the audience was able to ask questions. No decisions were made there.
Who organised this?
Die Linke and Volt (opposition, want to save the forest) had requested the public hearing, unfortunately with a formal error. The Green Party and SPD (government, want to destroy the forest) then did it themselves and thus had control over the structure and moderation. They put the issue on the agenda of the main committee (faction leaders), even though the politicians responsible for this area are members of the urban planning committee.
Why didn’t you have any banners with you this time?
We did. But the district office banned all signs and banners and even called the police when we arrived in the foyer. And the security service checked bags to make sure no one smuggled in a banner or sign. But we handed out all our flyers!
Were there many people there and what did they ask?
It was packed, even though the district itself didn’t advertise the public hearing. The Waldretter*innen did that as a volunteer based citizens’ initiative! Right at the beginning of the hearing, the entrance was closed, and latecomers weren’t able to participate. All the people who spoke up during the hearing opposed or were critical of the destruction of the forest. But not all questions were heard!
What did the experts say?
There were nine (supposed) experts present, five against the forest, three in favour of the forest and one in favour of sports facilities. NABU, BUND and a professor of social sciences made it clear that destroying the wild forest would violate species, forest and climate protection laws, would only bring disadvantages to the people in the neighbourhood, and that the figures on how much of the forest will supposedly be preserved are incorrect.
And what did the others say?
The district office and IBA once again talked about how great their plans are, the SPD once again exploited people looking for housing and refugees for their outdated housing construction and urban planning policies, and the Greens went along with it. As always: port and industrial areas are supposedly untouchable and new construction absolutely necessary, the waterfront strip and the ‘action area’ (“Maßnahmenfläche”, 0.9 hectares of forest that are to be preserved) will be “a good compromise”.
Did anything come of it?
No. The official statement from the Nature Conservation Working Group (“AG Naturschutz”) in 2023 is against any development. Since then, the IBA has been weighing things up, working on it… without any changes to the plan that could even remotely be considered a compromise. An honest assessment can only be made if a no to the so-called Spreehafenviertel were possible. But with the SPD and IBA, the economy always takes precedence over nature and climate protection.
And what do you think?
We’re fed up with this pseudo-participation theatre. We don’t care what you have to say, we protect the forest – radically! This clearing season still has 20 days to go, and even after that, the same applies: stop the Spreehafenviertel, keep the wild forest! WHOLE!
What to do when the IBA does another “Projektmonolog”? Take a look at this!
The so-called “Spreehafenviertel” will not be built!
Every year, the IBA and district office (Bezirksamt) provide information about their construction projects in Wilhelmsburg. We have gathered the following:
Planning for the so-called Spreehafenviertel district resumed in September, and objections from public authorities (TÖB), including nature conservation associations, are currently being examined. All of these authorities have spoken out clearly in favour of preserving the forest.
At the beginning of February 2026, the Main Committee (Hauptausschuss) of the Mitte district will hold a public hearing, “Spreehafenviertel/Wilder Wald, taking conflicting goals seriously”. Each political group can appoint experts who can be questioned on the topic by the committee members. The hearing is open to the public and is intended to provide the committee members, who will later decide on the development plan, with more background information.
The “Öffentliche Planauslegung” (in english: +/- public showing of the plans) has been renamed to “Öffentlichkeitsbeteiligung” (in english: participation of the public). When this part of the plan will take place they didn’t want to reveal. They did show the following timeline:
Neither the clearing nor the building permit for the 800 m² on Schlenzigstraße have yet been approved. They tried to blame BM-Bau for the construction plans on the 800 m² and claim that it has nothing to do with the so-called Spreehafenviertel. However, the city itself submitted the application, is the landowner and the land swap is only ‘necessary’ because they are planning new sports grounds in the so-called Spreehafenviertel on what is currently still part of the BM-Bau terrain.
We are staying alert, the battle for the Wild Forest has not yet been decided!
During the clearing season, we want to work together to protect the Wild Forest and show our determined protest against any destruction. Come to the weekly vigil, bring a hot drink and your breakfast!
Location: Schlenzigstraße corner of Hornatsdeicher Weg
Can you commit to a specific date or even take over the leadership of the gathering on site? That would be great, get in touch with us!
If you come to the rally, remember to bring:
If you are going to take part in an action, remember:
Everything you have with you can be broken or taken away by the police!