- Citizens vote on controversial street name
In the Upper Palatinate, citizens are trying to prevent the renaming of a street that commemorates a priest convicted of child abuse. After the town council of Eslarn had already decided on a street renaming, critics pushed through a referendum through a citizens' initiative. The town council has now set the date for the citizens' decision on November 24, said Mayor Reiner Gabl (SPD). Several media outlets have reported on this.
The Georg-Zimmermann-Straße is named after a Catholic clergyman who died four decades ago. The priest was once a music teacher and also held a leading position with the world-famous Regensburg Domspatzen. In 1969, he was convicted of sexual abuse. Nevertheless, his hometown honored him after his death in 1993 by naming a street after him.
"I'm very unhappy that it has come to this vote," said the mayor of the market town in the district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab. But the Bavarian Municipal Code provides for this. The requirements have been met with over 600 signatures. Eslarn has around 2,750 inhabitants.
Citizens shy away from costs after street renaming
The opponents of the renaming, including residents of the street, had argued among other things that the residents would incur costs due to a renaming. They proposed adding supplementary information about the namesake to the street sign.
"It's a trivialization of massive abuse crimes, of crimes against children and young people," said Gabl about the citizens' initiative. "I can't say that the financial and organizational effort is too high." The costs are actually not that high. "I can't understand it," said the mayor. According to media reports, the victims' committee for the victims of abuse in the Diocese of Regensburg also sharply criticized the planned prevention of the renaming.
Mayor wants to revise incorrect community decision
The mayor finds it incomprehensible today that a street was named after the convicted priest in the 1990s. There was probably some pressure from associations and organizations at the time that referred to the merits of the music teacher. "At the time, one probably saw it differently," said the mayor. "From today's perspective, one must say that the decision then was the wrong one."
The ongoing dispute in The Upper Palatinate involves the proposed renaming of the Georg-Zimmermann-Straße, named after a priest who was convicted of child abuse. Despite the town council's decision to rename the street, residents and critics have pushed for a referendum due to potential costs and perceived trivialization of the abuse crimes.
The controversy over the street renaming in Eslarn has drawn criticism from various sources, including the victims' committee for abuse in the Diocese of Regensburg, who view the proposed prevention of the renaming as a trivialization of the serious crimes committed.
