Tübingen’s Lord Mayor Boris Palmer responded in a personal statement to the severe criticism of a performance in Frankfurt. He announces a break.
In the statement by Boris Palmer (Greens, membership suspended) it is said that it is clear to him that things cannot go on like this. He could no longer put up with the repeated storms of indignation of his family, friends and supporters, the Tübingen city administration, the municipal council and the city community. According to Palmer, his serious intentions to ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again were unsuccessful.
Palmer announces time off
He will therefore take professional help during a break and try to work through his part in these increasingly destructive entanglements. He wanted to apologize to the people he disappointed, especially the voters who put their trust in him for a completely different task. Doing justice to this is above all else, Palmer wrote in the statement available to SWR. When asked by SWR, Palmer did not want to comment on what the announced timeout should look like. He is currently unable to do this.
Boris Palmer, Mayor of Tübingen.
In his statement, Palmer writes that recent events in Frankfurt have shown him that the problem is not the Internet, but the situation.
It awakened deep-seated memories in him of being called a Nazi from a large group: of visiting the cemetery desecrated by neo-Nazis with the graves of his ancestors. To the father who demonstrated against injustice with the Jewish star on his chest. To the group of young people who threatened to beat him as a boy and shouted that they had just forgotten to gas his father.
Palmer: “Mention of the Star of David was wrong”
The 50-year-old politician writes that he had to defend himself when he was accused of being a Nazi. But as a politician and mayor, he should never have talked like that. “The mention of the Jewish star was false and totally inappropriate,” Palmer said. He would never put the Holocaust into perspective. He is unspeakably sorry that this impression could arise, even though the Nazi era left its mark on his family.
The Mayor of Tübingen was invited to a migration conference at the Goethe University in Frankfurt on Friday. He was supposed to give a lecture on his approach to migration policy, but a verbal altercation with protesters broke out even outside the building.
while taking Palmer’s comment on how he uses the n-word. When confronted with shouts of “Nazis out,” Palmer told the crowd, “It’s nothing but the Star of David. It’s because I used a word that you guys frame everything else by. If you say the wrong word , you’re a Nazi. Think about it.” The video with the statements was shared on social media.
Massive criticism of Palmer
After these statements by Palmer, many politicians distanced themselves from Palmer. There was massive criticism. His long-time companion and lawyer Rezzo Schlauch (Greens) also declared on Sunday that he would no longer be legally represented in the future. He also ended his friendship.