Experts recommend renaming polluted street names
Historically burdened street names? An expert commission in Wiesbaden has recommended the renaming of 18 traffic areas and buildings named after personalities. On Wednesday, it presented a final report after examining 71 such cases in the Hessian state capital.
In 2018, a citizens' initiative collected signatures for the renaming of Pfitznerstraße, the municipality announced. The composer, conductor and author Hans Pfitzner had "openly argued anti-Semitically in his political writings from 1898 onwards" - even after the Second World War. In 2020, the city council decided to rename the street Johannes-Brahms-Straße and set up a historical commission.
Head of Cultural Affairs Hendrik Schmehl explained: "The Pfitzner case showed that dealing with personal entanglements and the actions of personalities during the Nazi era can be discussed and reassessed with greater temporal distance."
According to a city spokesperson, whether the streets identified as contaminated will actually be renamed will be clarified in the "subsequent political process". Sauerbruchstraße is one of the examples listed: the surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch was one of the up-and-comers and eminences of the Nazi regime.
In a further twelve cases examined, the expert commission only recommends "contextualization" - i.e. no renaming, but for example an additional sign or a QR code with explanations of the historical namesake.
The final report is also to be published in bookshops. According to the information provided, the city archive also wants to offer events to discuss the possible involvement in the Nazi era and have it assessed by historians.
In light of the historical evaluations, several municipalities in Hessian state are considering renaming streets named after individuals associated with National Socialism, such as Pfitznerstraße, which was renamed Johannes-Brahms-Straße due to Hans Pfitzner's anti-Semitic views during the Nazi era. The expert commission also suggested contextualizing some street names, like Sauerbruchstraße, linked to individuals who had significant roles in the Nazi regime, such as surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch.
Source: www.dpa.com
