As of: February 29, 2024, 6:00 p.m
By: Andrea Kästle
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The famous children's book author Otfried Preußler: The Pullach high school is still named after him, perhaps not for long.
Since it decided to part ways with its namesake, the school has had to endure a lot of criticism.
© Ursula Düren
In Pullach there is criticism from all sides following the decision to rename the Otfried-Preußler-Gymnasium.
The background is a Hitler Youth novel that Preußler wrote when he was young, which has only now become known.
Pullach
– Rarely has so much been reported nationally about the community of Pullach.
Since the local council decided to support the local Otfried-Preußler-Gymnasium, which wants to separate from its namesake, the community on the left bank of the Isar has been in the headlines across the country.
Even the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” took up the topic, and television (ZDF) has already registered at the town hall.
Preußler's granddaughter disappointed in her grandfather
Not all, but almost all, reports tend to criticize the council's decision, which was made by a 16-2 vote.
However, one of Preußler's granddaughters, Sabine Volk, also spoke out in the FAZ, writing: Her grandfather mentioned his past in National Socialism and also told her "how much enthusiasm he marched with."
But he hadn't told her anything about his HJ novel "Harvest Camp Geyer", which had been the reason for the school to take a critical look at the man who gave it its name. "I resent him for that."
And: “I am also disappointed that he did not use his position to deal openly and self-critically with his past.”
Renamed to “Pullach State High School”
That is exactly the point that the school uses as a reason for the desired renaming to “Staatliches Gymnasium Pullach”.
For her, it's not about the children's book author's work, but about the fact that Preußler never publicly reflected on his own attitude during the Nazi era.
And: Director Benno Fischbach also doesn't like the fact that Preußler, who was a teacher, once wrote about being a teacher that it "bored" him.
Such statements would probably weigh more “than an entire teacher’s life,” wrote the FAZ after the local council’s decision to comply with the school’s request for a name change – and thus opened national reporting.
Preußler's “actual literary work” is not appreciated, but the HJ novel is overrated.
Criticism: “Teachers follow the director dully”
Meanwhile, the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” insinuated that the teachers in Pullach, who had taken the initiative to research Preußler again, were “dullly following” their director Fischbach.
With the young adult novel “Krabat,” Preußler created a “masterpiece that urgently warns against the fascination of evil.”
Jochen Marx, teacher at the high school and head of the specially founded Preußler-AG, probably wants to get “stars for hard work when it comes to conformity to the zeitgeist”.
The “Spiegel” again quoted Bernd Posselt, spokesman for the Sudeten German ethnic group, who called for a “differentiated approach” to Preußler’s legacy – the inventor of the robber Hotzenplotz was a Sudeten German.
For the BR, Knut Cordsen complained that Benno Fischbach was acting like a schoolmaster, but at the same time he also reported that Preußler had received the award in 2000 together with the highly controversial historian Ernst Nolte.
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Already voted against the naming after Preußler eleven years ago
None of the contributions addressed the fact that the Pullach local committee had voted against naming the school after Preußler eleven years ago.
The fact that the naming was pushed through more or less single-handedly by Fischbach's predecessor Renate Single-Bergmann.
A secret vote on this among the teachers never took place.
Benno Fischbach told the
Münchner Merkur
: “We have dealt intensively with Preußler’s life and work for more than five years,” and the decision against the namesake was made by an “overwhelming majority” in all committees (SMV, parents’ council, teaching staff).
Mayor Susanna Thousandfreund (Greens) also thinks: “Why should the local council, which has always been against the name, not support the school family now?” The special-purpose association, which has to submit the corresponding application to the Ministry of Culture, meets in March.
Incidentally, Sabine Volk, the granddaughter, also wrote that she believes her grandfather would not have wanted the school to be named after him - unless all parties were in favor of it.