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With a new name: Ceremony at the Walter Lübcke School in Hesse
Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa
In the homeland of the murdered District President Walter Lübcke, a school with its name has been commemorating the Hessian CDU politician since Friday.
In Wolfhagen, the Wilhelm Filchner School was renamed the Walter Lübcke School.
By choosing a name, the students had decided not on a person but on a basic idea, said Prime Minister Volker Bouffier at a ceremony.
As someone who campaigned for freedom, democracy and humanity, Lübcke was a role model and a "worthy namesake", said Bouffier.
"Walter was brave," said the CDU politician, "especially when things got difficult, he did not go underground, but instead faced himself, which in the end cost him his life."
Before his murder, Lübcke had repeatedly defended the admission of refugees to Germany.
The politician was then threatened and shot dead in front of his house in Wolfhagen in 2019.
Widow appeals to students
The murdered man's wife, Irmgard Braun-Lübcke, appealed to the students to stand up for democratic values: "Above all, however, speak your mind and take a clear position against hatred, agitation and exclusion, whether in your professional or private sphere, but especially in the digital world. "
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The initiative for the renaming came from the students.
For years they had been bothered by the name of their school after the explorer Wilhelm Filchner (1877-1957).
Filchner did not distance himself from National Socialism, so the criticism.
Among other things, the researcher was a founding member of the so-called Society for Racial Hygiene.
Because of Lübcke's murder, the main defendant Stephan Ernst has had to answer before the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court since June 2020.
The Federal Attorney General assumes right-wing extremist motives.
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Fok / AFP / dpa