The Pfitzner monument becomes a memorial

Created: 06/23/2022, 14:32

By: Dieter Roettig

The Pfitzner monument in the Schondorfer Seeanlagen becomes a memorial.

The right part is to be renewed and provided with an explanatory text.

© Roettig

Schondorf – Once again, the sensitive issue of "Hans Pfitzner" caused controversial discussions in the Schondorf municipal council, but this time with final decisions: the monument will become a memorial and the street name will remain.

However, explanatory text panels are attached.

A lot of effort for the composer Hans Pfitzner (1869 – 1949), who was controversial because of his proximity to National Socialism and who lived in the Ammersee municipality from 1919 to 1929.

In the era of Mayor Gerd Hoffmann, a street was named after him and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death and 130th birthday on May 9, 1999, a memorial was unveiled in the lakeside facilities.

The composer Pfitzner was honored with monuments and street names not only in Schondorf, but also in many towns and communities in Germany and Austria.

In the current processing of German history during the Nazi era, Pfitzner's pronounced National Socialist attitude and friendship with Adolf Hitler came to light more and more and many municipalities reacted immediately.

In Hamburg, Hans-Pfitzner-Strasse became Friedensallee, in Hamm Lisztstrasse, in Münster Margarete-Moormann-Weg, in Lübeck Clara-Schumann-Strasse and in Frankfurt Lilo-Günzler-Strasse.

In Schondorf it was not easy, as Pfitzner – undoubtedly one of the most important composers of his time (main work is the opera “Palestrina”) – lived and worked here for at least ten years.

Even though Charlotte Knobloch from the Jewish religious community intervened and called for the monument to be dismantled, the topic was discussed at length in several meetings of the culture committee.

The majority of committee members agreed that removing the monument without a trace was not a solution.

One spoke out rather for a new version as a stele, a stumbling block or a modification of the current monument to a memorial.

Mayor Alexander Herrmann favored this proposal in the current meeting.

Council members agreed to keep the left side of the monument, albeit renovated with the addition of the fallen letters.

The right part should be provided with an explanatory text in the same way.

It states, among other things:

"The municipal council has distanced itself from Pfitzner's anti-Semitic and National Socialist statements and attitudes and condemned all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.

The intention of this plaque is not to let history be forgotten in its entirety and to warn against allowing oneself to be co-opted as beneficiaries of totalitarian systems.”

Before the council decision can be implemented, Mayor Herrmann still has to get permission from the artist Walter Mayer, who designed the monument.

According to a written survey, the majority of residents rejected the renaming of Hans-Pfitzner-Strasse.

A change of address causes a lot of work and costs.

They were all the happier about the result of the consultation: The street name will remain, with the signs getting an additional explanatory panel and a QR code that leads to a detailed history.