Several organizations are calling on the Nuremberg city council to postpone the decision about an opera interim on the former Nazi site. The city shouldn’t jeopardize its good reputation.
In an open letter, several organizations asked the Nuremberg city council to postpone the decision on an opera house interim on the area of the Nazi congress hall torso. The signatories include the initiative for architecture and the public “BauLust”, the institute for regional history “Geschichte für Alle” and the city council group “Die Guten”. The future handling of this monument from the time of National Socialism will “attract international attention,” it says in the open letter. In the case of a decision of this magnitude, urban society “simply has the right not to make such an important decision under enormous time pressure”. Especially since the need for an opera house renovation has been known “for at least ten years”.
According to the agenda, the city council is supposed to decide on December 15, where an alternative venue including replacement workplaces will be set up for the employees of the state theater. The open letter now calls for a postponement of six months. The group “The Good” wants to introduce a corresponding motion to the city council. City councilor Alexandra Thiele sees “many questions in the matter unanswered”. Numerous citizens expressed concern that the decision should “be carried out quickly so that there is finally peace”. The letter says that future dealings with the Nazi congress hall will also have to be measured against the remembrance work that has been done in Nuremberg so far. The good reputation that the city has developed in dealing with its Nazi history should not be gambled away lightly.
The SPD also expresses itself in a current statement on the subject. Under certain conditions, the Nazi congress hall could be used as an alternative venue for the opera house in need of renovation. The inner courtyard of the congress hall is “not just any building site, but a historical place of remembrance and it should stay that way,” said a statement by the Nuremberg party leadership. Instead, the SPD advocates an alternative venue in the outside area of the congress hall. Like the CSU and the Greens, the SPD also advocates making space within the congress hall available to art and culture professionals.