German professor fined for occupying tree on university grounds

A professor was fined €4,000 by a German court in Ravensburg on Tuesday for occupying a tree on the university grounds along with climate activists, reported dpa.

The judges did not agree with Professor Wolfgang Ertel that the occupation of the tree and the draping of a banner from a university building constituted an act of self-defence against the problems Ertel was trying to draw attention to.

Instead, he could have properly registered the gathering with the university authorities to reach his goal of raising awareness.

Together with climate activists, Ertel had demanded that the heating in the lecture halls of the university should be intelligently controlled instead of being left permanently on.

The court found him in breach of German assembly laws. However, Ertel's activism has not been fruitless.

The Ministry of Science of the state of Baden-Württemberg announced that it will look into the potential for optimizing the energy efficiency of the university, and that it will be one of nine universities receiving a climate change manager.

Furthermore, the university announced that it has already installed an intelligent heating system in one building.