A "neverending, annoying story": Regensburg argues about street names

Created: 01/28/2022, 14:05

Prominent example of renaming: the former Josef-Engert-Straße has been called “Am Biopark” since 2015.

© Robert Werner

How to deal with "burdened" street names?

Regensburg has been dealing with this question for years.

A previously published city council bill causes controversy.

Regensburg - The Regensburg CSU speaks of an "annoying, never-ending story" in a current press release.

And the largest government faction in the Regensburg* city council is not completely wrong.

For at least six years, one could go back even further, there has been a discussion in Regensburg about how to deal with "contaminated" street names, primarily those from the Nazi era.

Dispute over street names in Regensburg: What to do if the street is named after a Nazi?

In January 2016, education consultant Hermann Hage and the municipal commemoration officer Raphael Birnstiel had clearly positioned themselves: A concept for a commemoration and remembrance culture in Regensburg, which was being debated at the time, urgently needed to deal with this topic.

There are a few examples of renaming in Regensburg.

In 1999 - after a long debate - the former Florian-Seidl-Straße was renamed to Johann-Hösl-Straße.

It had long been known at the time that Seidl was a fervent National Socialist and advocate of euthanasia.

Another example: the renaming of Josef-Engert-Strasse at the university to "Am Biopark".

At the time, research by the online magazine regensburg-digital.de revealed that Engert, after whom a city award was even named, was a Nazi propagandist, warmonger and anti-Semite.

Street names in Regensburg: Experts only recommend renaming in individual cases

But is renaming always the right choice?

Couldn't it also be explanatory panels?

What about names from the colonial era, such as the much-discussed Drei-Mohren-Strasse, or those that only turn out to be Nazi-incriminated at second glance, such as Danziger Freiheit?

What about Herbert Quandt, BMW founder and, according to today's assessment, a candidate for the dock at the Nuremberg trials?

When the concept for a culture of commemoration and remembrance in Regensburg was finally on the table in October 2017, the authors recommended that “after careful historiographical-archival (re)examination of all relevant street, building and other names, a publicly comprehensible comment should be made to carry out a fundamental elimination”.

renaming closed.

dr

Joerg Skriebeleit, Dr.

Heike Wolter and Professor Mark Spoerer are not fundamentally out of the question - but only in well-founded individual cases and after broad discussion.

Street names in Regensburg: Suggestions from the education officer upset the CSU

In July 2020, the matter then became more concrete. A commission of experts was set up again. The task: to collect and check all possible names. The names should be on the table soon. Suggestions on how to proceed with these names, but obviously not. A "monitoring committee" is to be set up here, where - with the participation of citizens - concrete proposals for decisions are to be drawn up. Education officer Hermann Hage revealed this to the Mittelbayerische Zeitung in advance – and thus aroused the anger of the CSU and the Greens.

The CSU, otherwise known for repeatedly pushing forward in public without consulting its coalition partners and questioning joint resolutions, is now complaining in a press release that the proposal by the education officer was published without consulting it .

While this is likely to amuse Mayor Gertrud Maltz-Schwarzfischer, the other statements in the CSU announcement are tough.

On the one hand, the party accuses the city of inaction on the issue of street names, on the other hand, already known proposals in the draft resolution, which is to be discussed in the city council on February 10, are openly questioned.

(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the world cultural heritage city. Register here.)

Dispute over street names in Regensburg: CSU criticizes the mayor, Greens criticize the CSU

The CSU points out that in August last year the proposal was made to give the Karl-Freitag-Park*, named after a Nazi multi-functionary, the name of the former social mayor Hildegard Anke.

But that was not taken up by the city, "although it is undisputed and can be implemented quickly".

Aside from this own proposal, however, the party seems to want to block further renaming.

"A hodgepodge of proposals from D.-Martin-Luther-Strasse to Richard-Wagner-Strasse to Drei-Mohren-Gasse will certainly not be able to be approved by the CSU and a majority of Regensburg's citizens," it says in the message further.

The Greens, the largest opposition faction in the city council, have now reacted to this. City councilor Wiebke Richter speaks of scandalous behavior by the CSU. The party is trying to slow down the entire process, apart from its own proposal. "The fact that the Regensburg CSU is now picking out an example that it would like to name after a CSU politician is not appropriate to the achievements of Ms. Anke and the whole dispute over street names," said Green Party leader Stefan Christoph. "That ultimately turns the study of street names into a political playground."

Incidentally, the CSU is also to blame for the fact that things are not moving faster.

In July 2020, the Greens in the city council had requested "in cases where there is no doubt a connection to the National Socialist era, to start immediately with the development of a proposal for further action".

But the coalition rejected this – with the votes of the CSU.

Against this background, the "rumble of the CSU (...) is more than unbelievable," says Wiebke Richter angrily.

Controversial proposal from the education officer: The city councilors have little information

Education officer Hage and the mayor of the Greens also have to listen to criticism.

Because on one point they agree with the CSU: The fact that the template for the education committee has already been published in the media without the city councilors even knowing its content "damages the matter", according to city councilor Daniel Gaittet.

The mayor does not want to give out the template in advance.

As she explained when asked at the city council meeting on Thursday, this is not yet finished.

There is still a need for coordination...

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