Municipalities - Legal dispute in Cologne: Dirk-Bach-Platz or Offenbachplatz?
In a curious legal dispute over the naming of a square in Cologne after comedian Dirk Bach, who died in 2012, the Cologne City Council has lost out. The Cologne Administrative Court ruled on Thursday in a non-final judgment that the district council of Cologne city center was responsible for naming the square.
The case concerns a small, long-unnamed forecourt of the Schauspielhaus. The district council has wanted to officially name the area "Dirk-Bach-Platz" since 2022. Colloquially, it has been known as the "small Offenbachplatz". However, the city council was of the opinion that it was responsible for naming the square. In September 2023, the majority decided to incorporate the officially nameless area into the existing Offenbachplatz. The district council took the matter to court and successfully applied for a declaration that it was responsible for the naming.
The court reasoned that the provisions of the NRW municipal code were based on the assumption that the district council had general jurisdiction in district matters. The responsibility only lies with the council if the significance of the matter to be decided goes significantly beyond the district. "The defendant had neither demonstrated that the naming of the "small Offenbachplatz" in particular had any significance beyond the district nor was such significance otherwise discernible," the court reasoned.
In the summer, a plan to remove around 100 privately installed benches - including the pink bench at Dirk Bach 's grave - from Cologne's largest cemetery, Melaten, sparked outrage. The bench at the cult comedian's grave even disappeared for a while, but then suddenly reappeared. It was then decided that private benches could remain in place under certain conditions.
Communication from the administrative court
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- Despite the legal dispute, the Cologne City Council decided to incorporate the unnamed forecourt near the Schauspielhaus into the existing Offenbachplatz in September 2023.
- The Administrative Court of Cologne, in a non-final judgment, ruled that the district council of Cologne city center was responsible for naming the square, known colloquially as the "small Offenbachplatz," due to its general jurisdiction in district matters.
- The legal dispute over the naming of a square in Cologne after comedian Dirk Bach, who died in 2012, saw the district council aim to officially name the area "Dirk-Bach-Platz" since 2022.
- The legal dispute between the Cologne City Council and the district council of Cologne city center over the naming of the square was based on the provisions of the North Rhine-Westphalia municipal code, which assigns responsibility for naming to the district council unless the matter's significance goes beyond the district.
- People were outraged in the summer when a plan was proposed to remove around 100 privately installed benches, including the pink bench at Dirk Bach's grave, from Cologne's Melaten cemetery.
Source: www.stern.de
