> Berlin’s anti-Semitism commissioner presents a dossier of 290 streets named after personalities with anti-Semitic connotations – among them Martin Luther, Richard Wagner and the Brothers Grimm. A square named after Konrad Adenauer (CDU) is also mentioned in the dossier.
> A scientific study finds anti-Semitic references in 290 street names in Berlin. The dossier was commissioned by the contact person of the state of Berlin on anti-Semitism, Samuel Salzborn. With the publication of the study, Salzborn wants to initiate a social debate about streets named after historical personalities who expressed anti-Semitic views or even adhered to an established anti-Semitic worldview.
> The author of the dossier, political scientist Felix Sassmannshausen, recommends renaming the street as the next step in 101 cases or as a further step after more in-depth research. Renaming is recommended, for example, for streets and squares named after the composer Richard Wagner or after his operas and characters. “Wagner was a convinced anti-Semite and author of the anti-Semitic book ‘Das Judenthum in der Musik’ (1850). For this reason, among others, his work and world view cannot be separated,” the study says.
> The dossier published by the Berlin Senate Department for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination also recommends, for example, the renaming of a street named after the philosopher Eduard Spranger in Steglitz-Zehlendorf and the renaming of two streets named after the Prussian ministerial official Peter Beuth in Mitte and Pankow.
> Spranger was a member of the anti-Semitic military association Stahlhelm and, according to the dossier, was responsible for the exclusion of Jews from the Berlin Goethe Society. Beuth was a member of the anti-Semitic German Table Society and spoke out against the legal equality of Jews.
> “Luther’s significance for inscribing anti-Jewish stereotypes”.
> Renaming is also recommended for ten streets named after the reformer and theologian Martin Luther. “Martin Luther wrote anti-Jewish writings and was influential in the widespread dissemination of Christian-motivated anti-Judaism,” the study says.
> Salzborn, the Berlin representative for anti-Semitism, said that there are very committed actors in the Protestant regional church who deal intensively and self-critically with the issue of hostility towards Jews.
> At the time of the Luther Year 2017, however, these debates were still very reserved. “Luther was very important for the history of Protestantism, but also for the inscription of anti-Jewish stereotypes in the New Testament. I would very much like to see the problem tackled more intensively.”
> The anti-Semitism officer of the Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Pastor Marion Gardei, said that Martin Luther had “undoubtedly made terrible anti-Jewish statements” about which there was nothing to gloss over. “However, despite his anti-Semitic statements, Martin Luther also stands for the radical renewal of the Church and the Christian faith. That is why the confrontation with his thinking is existential and indispensable for the Protestant Church.”
> The study recommends contextualisation by means of a plaque or plaque for three streets named after the linguists and fairy tale collectors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. “In the ‘German Sagas’ they published, they coloured anti-Jewish resentment. Jacob Grimm was an opponent of legal equality for Jews, and in his letters Grimm used early anti-Semitic tropes,” it says.
> “Adenauer trivialised anti-Semitism”.
> The dossier also mentions Adenauerplatz in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (CDU). “He was the first Federal Chancellor to gather former Nazi functionaries around him in his government,” it says. “There are various indications of anti-Semitic resentment in Adenauer’s thinking. During the anti-Semitic ‘smear wave’ of the late 1950s, Adenauer trivialised anti-Semitism in German society.”
> The dossier recommends a digital contextualisation to be seen on online street guides – after the recommendation of a research assignment and before the recommendation of on-site contextualisation and renaming, this is the recommendation level with the second lowest intensity.
> A spokesperson for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is close to the CDU, said that the Christian Democrat’s policies were clearly directed against anti-Semitism and that Adenauer, as Lord Mayor of Cologne, had promoted Jewish life in his city. The spokesperson also referred to Adenauer’s commitment to German-Israeli relations. “From this point of view, we cannot understand why the dossier draws a connection between Konrad Adenauer and anti-Semitism.”
> The implementation regulations for Berlin’s street law state that renaming is possible if street names are “negatively charged according to today’s understanding of democracy and retaining them would cause lasting damage to Berlin’s reputation”. The Berlin boroughs are responsible for this.
> Deborah Hartmann, director of the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz memorial and education centre, said that new street names should not make history invisible, but should send a signal that people are aware of the past and present. “Only then can we make a conscious decision about which people and stories we want to encounter as we walk through this city.”
> Study author Sassmannshausen believes that a deeper historical awareness of the history of anti-Judaism and modern anti-Semitism is necessary to “strengthen democracy against its enemies”.
What if we change rules and name streets with only living persons ? Risks of no-compliance with current values would be lowered. /s
Me: This is stupid.
This guy: Anti-Semit!!!!
One of the most itching problem of the world in 2021.
Name them all after Jews, there won’t be any risk of them having naughty opinions
This could be prevented by only naming streets after natural objects, like trees or flowers.
But then someone would come and say Lindengasse is insensitive to people with allergies.
I think this initiative is a case of ‘stun them by making outrageous demands, and eventually get way more than you ever hoped for’. I mean, the rule has to be what the person after whom a street is named mainly stood for. Wagner is still relatively more known in the world of music than for any other qualities.
Also, criticising a religion for perhaps going a bit too far in some of its aspects should be allowed, for the health and benefit of that religion.
Another option is, that this activity was conceived by an anti-semite who hopes to harm the public profile of Jewry…
The anti-semite Martin Luther…
It’s certainly nice being a catholic /s
Should Protestants be canceled for antisemitism?
So logically they will also remove the street names bearing the names of people who did not like Catholics and Muslims, right ?
If we apply the same logic to all groups then nothing would remain. This is dumb and unreasonable.
The reason their names are there isnt their antisemitism and thats all that matters.
This just reminds me of American crap that I hear from time to time.
I would rather focus on things that matter and make sense instead of appeasing oversensitive entitled idiots who think their extreme demands must be met just cause they make them.
11 comments
Translation:
> Berlin’s anti-Semitism commissioner presents a dossier of 290 streets named after personalities with anti-Semitic connotations – among them Martin Luther, Richard Wagner and the Brothers Grimm. A square named after Konrad Adenauer (CDU) is also mentioned in the dossier.
> A scientific study finds anti-Semitic references in 290 street names in Berlin. The dossier was commissioned by the contact person of the state of Berlin on anti-Semitism, Samuel Salzborn. With the publication of the study, Salzborn wants to initiate a social debate about streets named after historical personalities who expressed anti-Semitic views or even adhered to an established anti-Semitic worldview.
> The author of the dossier, political scientist Felix Sassmannshausen, recommends renaming the street as the next step in 101 cases or as a further step after more in-depth research. Renaming is recommended, for example, for streets and squares named after the composer Richard Wagner or after his operas and characters. “Wagner was a convinced anti-Semite and author of the anti-Semitic book ‘Das Judenthum in der Musik’ (1850). For this reason, among others, his work and world view cannot be separated,” the study says.
> The dossier published by the Berlin Senate Department for Justice, Consumer Protection and Anti-Discrimination also recommends, for example, the renaming of a street named after the philosopher Eduard Spranger in Steglitz-Zehlendorf and the renaming of two streets named after the Prussian ministerial official Peter Beuth in Mitte and Pankow.
> Spranger was a member of the anti-Semitic military association Stahlhelm and, according to the dossier, was responsible for the exclusion of Jews from the Berlin Goethe Society. Beuth was a member of the anti-Semitic German Table Society and spoke out against the legal equality of Jews.
> “Luther’s significance for inscribing anti-Jewish stereotypes”.
> Renaming is also recommended for ten streets named after the reformer and theologian Martin Luther. “Martin Luther wrote anti-Jewish writings and was influential in the widespread dissemination of Christian-motivated anti-Judaism,” the study says.
> Salzborn, the Berlin representative for anti-Semitism, said that there are very committed actors in the Protestant regional church who deal intensively and self-critically with the issue of hostility towards Jews.
> At the time of the Luther Year 2017, however, these debates were still very reserved. “Luther was very important for the history of Protestantism, but also for the inscription of anti-Jewish stereotypes in the New Testament. I would very much like to see the problem tackled more intensively.”
> The anti-Semitism officer of the Protestant Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Pastor Marion Gardei, said that Martin Luther had “undoubtedly made terrible anti-Jewish statements” about which there was nothing to gloss over. “However, despite his anti-Semitic statements, Martin Luther also stands for the radical renewal of the Church and the Christian faith. That is why the confrontation with his thinking is existential and indispensable for the Protestant Church.”
> The study recommends contextualisation by means of a plaque or plaque for three streets named after the linguists and fairy tale collectors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. “In the ‘German Sagas’ they published, they coloured anti-Jewish resentment. Jacob Grimm was an opponent of legal equality for Jews, and in his letters Grimm used early anti-Semitic tropes,” it says.
> “Adenauer trivialised anti-Semitism”.
> The dossier also mentions Adenauerplatz in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after former Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (CDU). “He was the first Federal Chancellor to gather former Nazi functionaries around him in his government,” it says. “There are various indications of anti-Semitic resentment in Adenauer’s thinking. During the anti-Semitic ‘smear wave’ of the late 1950s, Adenauer trivialised anti-Semitism in German society.”
> The dossier recommends a digital contextualisation to be seen on online street guides – after the recommendation of a research assignment and before the recommendation of on-site contextualisation and renaming, this is the recommendation level with the second lowest intensity.
> A spokesperson for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is close to the CDU, said that the Christian Democrat’s policies were clearly directed against anti-Semitism and that Adenauer, as Lord Mayor of Cologne, had promoted Jewish life in his city. The spokesperson also referred to Adenauer’s commitment to German-Israeli relations. “From this point of view, we cannot understand why the dossier draws a connection between Konrad Adenauer and anti-Semitism.”
> The implementation regulations for Berlin’s street law state that renaming is possible if street names are “negatively charged according to today’s understanding of democracy and retaining them would cause lasting damage to Berlin’s reputation”. The Berlin boroughs are responsible for this.
> Deborah Hartmann, director of the Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz memorial and education centre, said that new street names should not make history invisible, but should send a signal that people are aware of the past and present. “Only then can we make a conscious decision about which people and stories we want to encounter as we walk through this city.”
> Study author Sassmannshausen believes that a deeper historical awareness of the history of anti-Judaism and modern anti-Semitism is necessary to “strengthen democracy against its enemies”.
What if we change rules and name streets with only living persons ? Risks of no-compliance with current values would be lowered. /s
Me: This is stupid.
This guy: Anti-Semit!!!!
One of the most itching problem of the world in 2021.
Name them all after Jews, there won’t be any risk of them having naughty opinions
This could be prevented by only naming streets after natural objects, like trees or flowers.
But then someone would come and say Lindengasse is insensitive to people with allergies.
I think this initiative is a case of ‘stun them by making outrageous demands, and eventually get way more than you ever hoped for’. I mean, the rule has to be what the person after whom a street is named mainly stood for. Wagner is still relatively more known in the world of music than for any other qualities.
Also, criticising a religion for perhaps going a bit too far in some of its aspects should be allowed, for the health and benefit of that religion.
Another option is, that this activity was conceived by an anti-semite who hopes to harm the public profile of Jewry…
The anti-semite Martin Luther…
It’s certainly nice being a catholic /s
Should Protestants be canceled for antisemitism?
So logically they will also remove the street names bearing the names of people who did not like Catholics and Muslims, right ?
If we apply the same logic to all groups then nothing would remain. This is dumb and unreasonable.
The reason their names are there isnt their antisemitism and thats all that matters.
This just reminds me of American crap that I hear from time to time.
I would rather focus on things that matter and make sense instead of appeasing oversensitive entitled idiots who think their extreme demands must be met just cause they make them.
Holy shit that’s one big virtue signalling.