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Historic locomotives disappear from museum

Two historic locomotives have disappeared from the German Museum of Technology in Berlin, officials said Tuesday. No one knows where the rail relics are, but police suspect an ownership dispute.

Published: 2 November 2010 15:16 CET
Historic locomotives disappear from museum
Photo: DPA

A spokeswoman for the Deutsches Technikmuseum denied that the two locomotives had been stolen, saying that had been properly picked up “as a favour” for storage in a museum depot.

But then Berlin police reported that two engines and a train car had been swiped from the museum. In a statement they entitled “A train to nowhere,” they said the three museum pieces had been missing since October 27, before which they had been on display outside the building on loan.

A member of a train enthusiast association filed a report after he arrived to pick up the locomotives yesterday evening to have a museum official tell him that another man had claimed them, saying they were to be sold. Police said the man then used nearby tracks to drive them away towards the neighbouring state of Brandenburg with the help of a train conductor.

According to news agency DAPD, there may be a dispute between the two men over who owns the locomotives.

A police spokesman told the agency that officers have yet to locate the engines and they have opened an investigation for theft.

The Local/DAPD/ka

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BERLIN

Tesla’s factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

Tesla has confirmed its plans to extend its production site outside Berlin had been approved, overcoming opposition from residents and environmental activists.

Published: 17 May 2024 08:54 CEST
Tesla's factory near Berlin gets approval for extension despite protests

The US electric car manufacturer said on Thursday it was “extremely pleased” that local officials in the town of Grünheide, where the factory is located, had voted to approve the extension.

Tesla opened the plant – its only production location in Europe – in 2022 at the end of a tumultuous two-year approval and construction process.

The carmaker had to clear a series of administrative and legal hurdles before production could begin at the site, including complaints from locals about the site’s environmental impact.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

Plans to double capacity to produce a million cars a year at the site, which employs some 12,000 people, were announced in 2023.

The plant, which already occupies around 300 hectares (740 acres), was set to be expanded by a further 170 hectares.

But Tesla had to scale back its ambitions to grow the already massive site after locals opposed the plan in a non-binding poll.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg.

The entrance to the Tesla factory in Brandenburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Lutz Deckwerth

Their concerns included deforestation required for the expansion, the plant’s high water consumption, and an increase in road traffic in the area.

In the new proposal, Tesla has scrapped plans for logistics and storage centres and on-site employee facilities, while leaving more of the surrounding forest standing.

Thursday’s council vote in Grünheide drew strong interest from residents and was picketed by protestors opposing the extension, according to German media.

Protests against the plant have increased since February, and in March the plant was forced to halt production following a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines claimed by a far-left group.

Activists have also built makeshift treehouses in the woodland around the factory to block the expansion, and environmentalists gathered earlier this month in their hundreds at the factory to protest the enlargement plans.

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