Dietrich Wagner

Dietrich Wagner (1944 – 28 June 2023) was a German engineer who suffered damage to his eyes during the 2010 Stuttgart 21 project protests due to the use of water cannons. He was 66 at the time.

Wagner was struck and knocked unconscious by the high velocity stream of water and noticed blood running down his face when he woke up. He suffered damage to his eyelids, an orbital blowout fracture, and damage to both lenses and retinas. Wagner subsequently had six eye operations but regained little of his vision and remained almost completely blind.

Aftermath
Before his participation in the Stuttgart 21 protests, Wagner had no political involvement since being in university. Pictures showing Wagner injured, with two people assisting him, were published in many German newspapers. During later demonstrations, some protesters put red colour on their faces to symbolize Dietrich Wagner.

Tristana Moore of Time wrote that the photograph of his injury caused "a regional dispute over an unpopular building project instantly transformed into a national issue — and the political repercussions are now reverberating all the way to Berlin." Wagner became a symbol of the protest against the Stuttgart 21 project. The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote that he was the "face of the protest". According to the author Jakob Augstein, the picture had a relevant impact, causing Minister of Baden-Württemberg Stefan Mappus to lose his position.

In 2014 he visited the United Kingdom to ask Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to not authorise usage of water cannons. In an editorial to The Telegraph Wagner opposed the use of water cannons.

Wagner died on 28 June 2023, at the age of 79.