Sylt: New attempt to rename the Hindenburgdamm

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Train on the Hindenburgdamm: Can the name be erased from the vernacular?

Photo:

Carsten Rehder / dpa

It seems that everyone in Germany has already heard the name for the route kilometers 217 to 226 through the Wadden Sea to Sylt: Hindenburgdamm.

However, this name regularly angers tempers as it refers to Reich President Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934).

Hindenburg opened the dam on June 1, 1927.

However, the Field Marshal is also regarded as Hitler's stirrup holder, as he made him Chancellor and thus made the dictatorship possible in the first place.

In many places, streets or squares have therefore already been renamed, for example the Hindenburgufer in the Schleswig-Holstein state capital years ago became the Kiellinie.

Now there is another attempt to establish a new name for the railway embankment to Sylt.

The matter is complicated, however: there is no official name plate on the route that could easily be replaced - and there is also no official name.

The fact that the name Hindenburgdamm became common is probably due to the fact that the Reichsbahn boss Julius Dorpmüller, who later served as NS Transport Minister and was also involved in the deportation of Jews, paid homage to Hindenburg when it was opened and decided: “We want” to christen the new dam in his name – »His name is Hindenburgdamm«.

Oblige public institutions to use alternative names

After several unsuccessful attempts to get an alternative name for the Hindenburgdamm in general usage, the Greens in the Südtondern office are trying again.

In the medium term, you want to introduce a resolution to the district council of North Friesland.

The town of Niebüll, where the car trains to Sylt start, is in the Südtondern district.

"The point of this resolution can only be that the public sector no longer uses the term 'Hindenburgdamm' in the hope that this will also be transferred to the vernacular," said Stephan Wiese from the party's local branch.

Deutsche Bahn, meanwhile, officially lists the structure under the silly number 2010. "The only railway structures that are officially named are tunnels," said a spokeswoman.

Even if the railway also called the connection Hindenburgdamm in the past, this should now actually be a thing of the past.

In other words, the name Hindenburgdamm should no longer appear on the website or anywhere else.

The head of Sylt Marketing GmbH, Moritz Lust, also said, "this is a sensitive topic that we are dealing with".

There is already a suggestion for a new name.

The Lübeck psychotherapist Karl-Heinz Haase, who is a member of the German-Israeli Society, brought the name Syltdamm into play.

“Everyone would understand that.” Members of the state parliament from the Greens and SPD had also campaigned for this name in the past.

apr/dpa