On a sunny afternoon last week, a handful of campaigners armed with a tin of cookies, a thermos of coffee and a carton of oat milk stood outside a factory in Berlin’s Wedding district, handing out flyers to employees arriving and leaving the site.
The plant, in a traditionally working-class neighbourhood sometimes called “Red Wedding,” is preparing to change hands: from this summer roughly 350 staff will be reassigned to produce shells for large-caliber munitions. The facility is owned by Pierburg, now part of Rheinmetall, which has stressed there will be no explosives stored on site.
The people handing out leaflets belonged to the Berlin Alliance Against Weapons Production (BBgW), a network of about 30 groups campaigning against what they see as a gradual militarization of German industry. “Our aim is to get into conversations with the workers here,” said Andreas, who declined to give his surname. The flyers read in part: “We stand on your side… war industry and defense production are not the solution,” and invited employees to local meetings to discuss pressuring management to return to civilian manufacturing.
Most workers avoided engagement. Few stopped to take leaflets; many kept their car windows closed as security waved them through. One protester noted how nervous people seemed; Andreas suspected workers had been instructed not to speak to campaigners, though that could not be verified.
Locals were also uneasy about weapons being made in the neighbourhood for the first time since World War II. An 87-year-old passerby, evacuated as a child during the war, told DW she did not want the plant producing arms in Wedding but admitted the country must be able to defend itself.
Andreas acknowledged the tension between principle and livelihood. “The workers need work,” he said, adding that in a capitalist system employees often have little control over what their factory produces. He urged that management could be approached with alternatives and that the plant could be retooled for non-military goods.
Some employees voiced resentment about the change. “I think it’s shit,” one worker called from her car, saying she would soon retire.
Rheinmetall — a major German industrial group active in machine engineering, auto parts and, increasingly, weapons — is folding the Pierburg site into its Weapons and Munitions division, which focuses on medium- to large-caliber ammunition. The company helps build vehicles for the Bundeswehr and NATO partners, and its share price has risen markedly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In a statement to DW, Rheinmetall framed the conversion as a response to market forces: declining sales in the automotive sector paired with sharply increased demand in the military sector. The company said converting the plant would help “continue to offer secure jobs to the workforce at the Berlin plant in the future.”
For critics and some union members, the workers’ lack of choice is the core issue. “Of course, they’re not enthusiastic about what they’re producing. I think no one likes to manufacture for the defense industry,” said Klaus Murawski of IG Metall Berlin, who knows the Pierburg works council. Murawski sympathised with the protests but has not taken part, warning demonstrations risk making workers feel “guilty by association” and asking what practical alternatives protesters offer to preserve jobs.
IG Metall itself is divided. “For us at IG Metall, it’s not an easy subject,” said Constantin Borchelt, head of IG Metall Berlin. He noted the union’s charter supports peace and demilitarisation while also defending the democratic order and representing employees’ interests. Borchelt questioned the long-term soundness of switching to defense production, arguing investment should target future civilian products rather than weapons.
The Pierburg conversion reflects a wider trend: governments across Europe, including Germany, have been increasing defense investment amid changing geopolitics, perceived threats from Russia and uncertainty over US commitments. Last March the Bundestag approved a large debt package to fund defence and infrastructure, and since then hundreds of factories in Germany have quietly retooled for military work.
BBgW plans to return to the plant gates next week to try again to speak with workers. Andreas warned of broader risks if industry continues to militarize: “Those who are armed are more prepared to follow a riskier foreign policy,” he said, questioning political rhetoric about Germany becoming a world power and warning this path could have serious consequences.