Protest as nuclear cultural heritage: the example of Gorleben in Germany

The first article in the blog series explains how nuclear cultural heritage is defined. It also explains how nuclear cultural heritage is determined in Germany and where it has already developed. For our study, we examined three examples in more detail. These three examples cover a range of different categories of nuclear cultural heritage sites.

The third case study, Gorleben, involves a site selection process for the disposal of highly radioactive waste that was highly politically orientated and which, in the struggle over this choice, has become a decades-old symbol of the protest culture against the civilian use of nuclear energy in (West) Germany as a whole.

How a village became a place of protest

Gorleben's history as a nuclear site began with a political decision in the 1970s when the Gorleben salt dome was designated as a possible location for a nuclear waste disposal centre (Nukleares Entsorgungszentrum, NEZ). At the time, the Lower Saxony town bordered the former GDR. The region is very rural, with small villages, large forest areas and agricultural cultivation. Among other things, a reprocessing plant, a final disposal for highly radioactive waste and other nuclear facilities were planned. At the time, politicians considered the remote and sparsely populated area ideal for centralising the disposal of all radioactive waste in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Contrary to political expectations, the announcement of the Gorleben site in 1977 sparked widespread protest among the population. The protest was particularly successful because it was also supported by local farmers, who established tractor rides and blockades as forms of protest. Depending on the current plans, such as the construction of a nuclear power plant and structural measures such as drilling sites or the erection of buildings, individual sites in the region took on different significance. For example, borehole 1004 became a central location for the movement when it was taken over by the ‘Free Republic of Wendland,' a self-declared micronation and protest camp, and the first hut village was built there. Here, ideas for a self-governing community with its own radio station and 'identity documents' were tested for 33 days. The local population supported the squatters with food, water and firewood. 

The international Gorleben symposium in Hanover in March 1979, which took place at the same time as the nuclear accident in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (USA), marked a turning point in the conflict at that time. During the symposium in Hanover, the largest number of anti-nuclear protesters to date gathered there. The scientific clash, which was accompanied by large public protests, led to the project being abandoned in its previous form. In the 1990s, with the first Castor transports of radioactive waste to the region, new forms of resistance developed. Large-scale blockades were formed along railway lines and at central intersections and sites of the facilities that had been built.

According to the 2020 interim report on sub-areas for a final disposal site by the Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal, this site is no longer being considered for the long-term storage of waste, and no further transports of high-level radioactive waste to the interim storage facility are planned. Over the course of decades of protest movements, cultural practices and artefacts have developed that document the movement's knowledge and actions and are preserved for future generations as part of Germany’s nuclear cultural heritage. With this decades-long protest movement, Gorleben has become a symbol of social movements and the German anti-nuclear movement.

The Beluga Triangle as a central memorial site

Nuclear cultural heritage in the Gorleben region developed on the basis of plans to build nuclear infrastructure. Material objects such as the interim storage facility, the exploration mine and the associated technical facilities determine the first impression. However, in contrast to other nuclear sites, the technical objects are losing their central role and are being replaced in cultural memory by other practices and meeting places. 

These include, among others:

• the Beluga boat, which was erected as a visible sign of resistance,
• the Undine von Blottnitz hut as a meeting place,
• the Gorleben archive, which collects documents, posters, film and photo material from the protest movement,
• the widely known yellow "X" as a symbol of resistance against nuclear transports,
• and the cross at the Gorleben prayer site.

The site of the former Salinas Salzgut GmbH, now called the ‘Beluga Triangle,’ is located near the exploration mine and the interim storage facility. The Beluga Triangle is a central location, encompassing the Beluga boat, the Gorleben prayer site and the Undine von Blottnitz shelter and information hut. As early as the 1970s, it was the starting point and gathering place for demonstrations against nuclear power. The ship was originally used for demonstrations and water sampling and is now a central memorial. Matthias Edler from Greenpeace says: "The Greenpeace ship at the gates of the Gorleben salt dome is not only a memorial to mistakes already made, but also a protest to learn from these mistakes." The site continues to be visited even after the end of the explorations in Gorleben to provide information and raise awareness about other important socio-political issues, such as the problems of civilian sea rescue in the Mediterranean. The site has established itself as a place for information and exchange about various forms of protest. 

In 2010, a shelter was built on the site with donations from the Farmers’ Emergency Association (Bäuerliche Notgemeinschaft), named after the committed activist Undine von Blottnitz and is now serving as a gathering and information point. In 2024, it was reopened after extensive renovation and restoration work.

The site of the Gorleben prayer is closely linked to the boat and hut, both spatially and symbolically. The ecumenical initiative began in 1988 with a 'Station of the Cross for the Care of Creation’ from Wackersdorf to Gorleben. Since then, a prayer service has been held every Sunday in the forest near Gorleben. A memorial cross and a place of worship have been erected, making the immaterial practice materially tangible and is now institutionalised. The Gorleben Prayer represented a safe space for the demonstrators, and the initiators played a mediating role between the police and the demonstrators, for example. In addition to the Sunday service, regular Sunday walks around the former exploration mine also take place. 

From ‘Day X’ to a cultural festival 

Various artefacts were created to support the different forms of protest, some of which developed great symbolic power, such as the Wendland flag of the 'Free Republic of Wendland'. Particularly noteworthy is the ‘X’ of the ‘X-1000mal-Quer’ (‘X-1000-times across‘) campaign, which initially stood for the day on which the Castor transport was expected and became a symbol for the entire protest. A ‘Day X’ poster attracted a great deal of attention because Joseph Beuys inscribed it with the dedication "Human-centred art must 1. prevent the destruction of what is human-centred and 2. build what is human-centred – only that is ART and nothing else" and thus declared it a work of art. The poster was banned for “inciting violence,” and the declaration as a work of art protected the bearers and exhibitors from prosecution. Today, several yellow ‘X’s are scattered throughout the region, commemorating the resistance. One interviewee emphasized that some people “cherish and care for their ‘X’s and varnish them regularly” (Gorleben_ID6). The history of protest shapes the identity of the citizens living there.

In the 1990s, other forms of protest and remembrance developed, such as concerts, cultural events and theatre performances. The cultural festival ‘Kulturelle Landpartie,’ which was first held in 1989, grew from year to year with more participants and additional places of remembrance. Artistic and cultural offerings are made at various locations in the region, which are privately funded. In addition to the Gorleben resistance, the range of topics covered by the ‘Kulturelle Landpartie’ has expanded over the years and now also includes, for example, the energy transition, climate change and sustainable living.

The various practices and objects are an expression of a cultural process in which the protest movement becomes a memorable event. Intangible practices are closely interwoven with material traces and together construct the nuclear cultural heritage. 

A culture of remembrance driven by civil society

In contrast to other places where state institutions play a central role in preserving cultural heritage, the nuclear cultural heritage in Gorleben is largely shaped by civil society actors. The main groups involved here are farmers, local politicians, representatives of the nobility (e.g. the Counts Bernstorff, von Blottnitz and von dem Bussche), senior citizen groups ('Initiative 60') and women’s initiatives (Gorleben Women). These practices are institutionalised through the establishment of citizens' initiatives and associations, as well as through the development and collection of artefacts, e.g. in the Gorleben Archive. A key initiative is the Lüchow-Dannenberg Citizens' Initiative for Environmental Protection, which was founded in 1974 and became an association in 1977. 

In addition to these actors, there are the companies and federal institutions that were interested in the implementation of the Gorleben site. Through their work or directly through public appearances, they have influenced political narratives and practices on the ground.

The Elbe-Jeetzel-Zeitung served as a bridge between the protests, the political sphere, and the general public. It is a small regional newspaper from Lüchow that published advertisements from the various actors and groups, letters from readers, reports from individuals affected, its own articles and comments on current events, thus becoming a reflection of the actions and discourses. The newspaper was the only platform in the district that everyone had access to.

In the next and final blog post in this series, we will take a look at the influence of nuclear cultural heritage on the debate surrounding final disposal and how this heritage can help in the search for a final disposal.

Dr Melanie Mbah is Research Coordinator for Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research at Oeko-Institut and is involved in the GTPF, the German Society for Transdisciplinary and Participatory Research. Dr Viktoria Noka is Senior Researcher in the Energy & Climate Division at the Berlin office and wrote her doctoral thesis on the anti-nuclear protests in Gorleben.

Further information

Blog post ‘Garching's research reactor as nuclear cultural heritage‘

Blog post ‘The nuclear cultural heritage in the Wismut region of Germany’

Blog post ‘What is nuclear cultural heritage?’

Journal article Mbah, M.; Noka, V.; Lampke, A.; Kelly, R.; Kuppler, S. (2025): 'What is Nuclear Cultural Heritage? Developing an analytical framework.' Energy Research & Social Science 124.

Study ‘Status Quo of Nuclear Cultural Heritage in Germany and its Significance for Nuclear Waste Management’ (in German)

Study ‘Relational analyses of tangible and intangible nuclear cultural heritage in Germany’ (in German)

Study: ‘Mapping of places of potential nuclear heritage in Germany’ (in German)

Annotated bibliography of literature on nuclear cultural heritage in Germany