Harald “Harry” Riedel, Chamberlain of Nuremberg, can be imagined as a kind of Franconian cowboy. A friend of clear speech and short sentences, who cultivates the local idiom so categorically that one can guess: Behind it there shouldn’t be any lived folklore, but rather a very stable, unusual “Nobody can do me here” attitude to life.
At the federal level, Riedel would probably be most comparable to Peer Steinbrück (decidedly social democratic, but as a financial expert of his own party he likes to mock solidarity). On the other hand, it is difficult to imagine the Hanseatic Steinbrück ordering a “Wallbullidschella” and “Widdello Donado” from the Italian, which one can very well imagine from Riedel, at least idiomatically.
What also distinguishes the two: Like Steinbrück, Riedel would have had the opportunity to reach for the crown. But while Steinbrück ran as a candidate for chancellor (and failed impressively), Riedel wisely waved off the Ulrich-Maly successor. If he had expressed interest in running for mayor in Nuremberg in 2020, his party would have had little choice but to nominate him.
Instead, Riedel remained the city’s political original, the man everyone knows: he doesn’t talk to anyone. And he doesn’t want to be re-elected either, his time as treasurer at the top of the city ends in April.
Why is all this worth mentioning? This days is Culturally, Nuremberg has been the talk of the townthe reason is a list of atrocities from Riedel’s presentation: Drastic savings have to be made, two art museums are said to be threatened with closure, festivals are on the brink.
And of course many are now asking themselves: Is there a more reliable way to make yourself vulnerable as a city than to step into the ring as the “European Capital of Culture” and then shortly afterwards to discuss museum closures?
One can assume that Riedel has priced that in. And yet we came to the conclusion: Debts are increasing, Nuremberg’s budget can hardly be approved anymore, cities are confronted with multiple crises – things can’t go on like this.
Riedel obviously wanted to set an example, a communal cassandra call. museum closures? They probably won’t come. But at the latest at this point many people stop: it is obviously serious. Yes, it is.