"Manic hatred of the French": City of Regensburg removes inscription on building after 13 years

Created: 2022-11-19 7:33 p.m

By: Stefan Aigner

The former cultural officer of Regensburg had this inscription carved into a listed building in 2009.

The city has now removed the work.

© Stefan Aigner

"Historical falsification hewn in stone" was attested to the former Regensburg cultural officer for an inscription.

Now it has been removed.

Regensburg – After 13 years it is finally gone: an inscription that the former Regensburg cultural officer Klemens Unger had hammered into a listed building in Stadtamhof and which caused outrage among historians.

Inscription on a listed building in Regensburg: "Manic French hatred"

“Unacceptable and intolerable”, “falsification of history set in stone”, “maniacal hatred of the French”, “falsification of history” or simply “wrong”.

These were just some of the judgments made by a number of experts and historians in 2009.

“1809 days of terror caused by Napoleon – in memory of the victims of 2009” was the inscription that Unger secretly had attached to the pylon gate without consulting the Monuments Office.

Former culture officer was immune to criticism from experts

This should be a reminder of the fire in Stadtamhof on April 23, 1809, in which almost 90 percent of the houses were destroyed, 95 residents lost their lives and around 3,000 people became homeless.

The crux of the matter: This fire was not started by Napoleon, but by the shelling of Austrian troops.

Against this background, it was hardly surprising that the inscription met with unanimous criticism and rejection - from the Historical Association, Napoleon expert Dr.

Marcus Junkelmann, the then general curator Egon Greipl and last but not least from the local club "Statt am Hoff".

Former culture consultant Unger: Fools' freedom under two mayors

For Klemens Unger, however, this questionable action had no consequences.

As so often.

Under Mayor Hans Schaidinger, but also his successor Joachim Wolbergs, the cultural advisor, who often acted on his own authority and was repeatedly criticized, seemed to enjoy the freedom of fools.

At the time, Schaidinger even banned the publisher of the renowned Regensburg Almanac, Konrad Färber, from entering the city because he had dared to invite Junkelmann, one of the more prominent critics of inscriptions, to give a lecture.

Joachim Wolbergs, at that time only mayor, dutifully stated: "The inscription will not kill us."

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Secretly and bashfully: the city of Regensburg removes Unger's work

Eventually the debate died down and was sat out successfully.

Unger retired and the inscription he was responsible for seemed to be permanent.

But she's been gone for a while now.

It was not an official act, not even worthy of a municipal notice, that it was finally removed from the pylon gate sometime in 2021.

"The imprecisely formulated and repeatedly criticized inscription in the pylon gate was reversed in coordination between the cultural department, city archives, monument preservation and the local history association 'Statt am Hoff'," said the press office of the city of Regensburg.

Unger had it chiseled: the taxpayer bears the costs for removal

Thanks to the efforts of the Heimatverein “Statt am Hoff” there is now a more dignified and historically correct reminder of the fire elsewhere.

A commemorative plaque with "coordinated text" was attached to the former town hall of Stadtamhof, sponsored by the Raiffeisenbank, which resides in this building.

According to information from the city of Regensburg, 1,270.92 euros were due for the removal of Ungers' property damage to the pylon gate.

The taxpayer pays for that, by the way.

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