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Bundestag President Klöckner to seek damages over damaged Reichstag flagpole
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Bundestagspräsidentin Julia Klöckner (CDU) announced that she will seek damages from a 22-year-old propalestinian activist who removed the German flag from the Reichstag flagpole and replaced it with a Palestine flag on Sunday. Klöckner called the act a crime and a mockery of the state and its symbols, and said the flagpole's internal technology was severely damaged, requiring lengthy repairs. The Union parliamentary group plans talks with the SPD about establishing a restricted zone (Bannmeile) around the government district to better protect parliament without sacrificing openness to citizens. The justice spokesman Martin Plum emphasized the need to review existing protections while ensuring peaceful demonstrations remain possible near the Bundestag. The flag, a national monument commemorating German reunification, is temporarily reattached.
Source report
Berlin, November 12, 2026 — Following damage to the flagpole in front of the Reichstag building, Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) intends to hold the pro-Palestinian activist financially accountable. "We will of course also assert claims for damages," Klöckner told the Rheinische Post. "What happened here is not political protest, but a criminal offense, a mockery of our state and its symbols."
Incident Details
On Sunday, a 22-year-old man removed the German flag from the flagpole on the Platz der Republik in front of the Reichstag building and raised a Palestinian flag in its place. The man is now under investigation on suspicion of denigrating the state and its symbols, among other charges. The Unity Flag has since been provisionally reattached.
Repair Timeline Uncertain
The exact amount of damage has not yet been definitively determined, Klöckner said. Because the internal technology of the flagpole was severely damaged and repairs are complicated, restoration will "presumably require some time."
Union Plans Talks on Restricted Zone
In the wake of the flag incident, the Union intends to promptly initiate talks with the SPD about establishing a restricted zone (Bannmeile) in Berlin's government district. The shared goal must be "to protect Parliament more effectively without sacrificing its openness to citizens," said Martin Plum (CDU), legal affairs spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, to the Rheinische Post.
Plum added that the talks must carefully examine whether existing protective regulations are still sufficient. Peaceful demonstrations must remain possible within sight of the Bundestag in the future. "At the same time, we must not accept that access to Parliament is blocked, its work obstructed, or state symbols misused for political activism."
The Unity Flag: A National Monument
The removed Unity Flag is an official national monument commemorating German reunification on October 3, 1990. The 60-square-meter black-red-gold flag flies permanently on a 28.5-meter mast made of hot-dip galvanized shipbuilding steel and was first raised on the night of reunification.
Source
Nachrichten - WELTWestern
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Reichstag flagpole damaged after activist raises Palestine flag in Berlin