cultural policy
Nida-Rümelin against “attitude tests”
Julian Nida-Rümelin is currently reminded of the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The case of the Russian conductor Gergiev is not only causing a stir in the cultural scene. Can such artists be fired because of their closeness to Putin? This reminds an important German intellectual of the McCarthy era in the USA.
Former Minister of State for Culture Julian Nida-Rümelin has spoken out against withdrawing engagements from Russian artists because of the attack on Ukraine.
There should be no “attitude tests” for artists and scientists in Germany, said the deputy chairman of the German Ethics Council of the “Welt am Sonntag”. It is also wrong to demand a confession against Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the philosophy professor, referring to the case of conductor Valeri Gergiev.
«Where this can lead, we can see in the history of the USA with the McCarthy era, when artists were canceled and politically persecuted if they did not publicly face the
McCarthy Commission distanced themselves from communism,” said Nida-Rümelin. This puts the ax to the basic values of a liberal democracy. The McCarthy era refers to a campaign named after Senator Joseph McCarthy in the USA against alleged communist activities in the 1950s.
The Gergiev case
Nida-Rümelin specifically criticized Gergiev’s expulsion from the Munich Philharmonic. “Why did the city of Munich hire Gergiev to conduct the Munich Philharmonic? Because he is a brilliant musician and not because he was considered close to Putin.” Nida-Rümelin was Minister of State for Culture in 2001/2002 under the then Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD).
Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD) justified the separation from the conductor at the beginning of March by saying that he had not distanced himself from Russia’s attack on Ukraine despite being asked to do so. The Munich city council has since supported the expulsion. “This is not a vote of no confidence against the entire Russian population and not a restriction of artistic freedom,” said all city council factions except for the AfD in a joint statement on Friday. However, as a representative of the city, Gergiev has a prominent position and is ambassador for the whole of Munich.
Gergiev has since been uninvited from other renowned houses and orchestras around the world. He is friends with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. The city council factions said the artist had demonstrated “that this friendship is more important to him than our values when in doubt”. Gergiev has been the conductor of the Philharmonic, a city orchestra, since 2015.