The “Weitblick” event location at the Olympic Park has developed into an important networking location for the radical right scene over the past four years. Now there are changes in the management, as one of the two operators reports. Falk S. writes in an email to “business partners and neighbors” that he will now be the sole managing director and will take over his father’s shares in the business. The 59-year-old Mike S. is leaving the company management and handing over his shares. This is apparently a reaction to reports from the SZ about the “Weitblick” as a meeting place for “lateral thinkers”, conspiracy theorists and AfD politicians, among others. The father repeatedly took part in demonstrations against the Corona policy during the pandemic.
Falk S., 38, writes that he “very much regrets” that the location was used for events by right-wing groups. Now he wants to make it clear that he stands for “cosmopolitanism, tolerance and inclusion”. “We want to be a place where people come together – regardless of their origin, their faith, their life plans.” He distances himself “from people and groups who do not share these values, my values.”
There is apparently a family conflict behind the development. As the son writes, he left the company he ran with his father in 2021 because right-wing groups were already using the rooms at the Sapporobogen. In July 2023 he rejoined “with my father’s express promise” that bookings from radical right-wingers would no longer be accepted. “This promise was broken,” writes Falk S. He apologizes for this in his statement, which is also published on the company’s homepage. “I cannot undo what happened. But as the new majority shareholder, I can now ensure that past mistakes are not repeated.”
Mike S. left questions from the SZ about his son’s criticism unanswered. And what did the son know about the recent events at “Weitblick”? In November 2023, the “Congress of Clear Words” took place at the location, at which former Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen spoke; In January, the far-right Austrian broadcaster Auf1 invited people to a New Year’s reception at “Weitblick”, where right-wing extremists also came alongside AfD politicians. Why didn’t the son prevent this even though he rejected the political orientation? Falk S. said through a media consultant that he only found out about the content of certain events through “media research”.
The meetings in “Weitblick” were documented over the years by the Right-Wing Extremism Information Center, which is financed by the city. The Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution told the SZ that it was following the activities in “Weitblick” “with attention”. In response to a request from SPD state parliament members Anna Rasehorn and Christiane Feichtmeier about observations made by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Interior Ministry wrote a few days ago: The state office “does not have any information on this.” How does this fit together? On the one hand, the “attention”, on the other hand, “no knowledge” about the groups that met in “Foresight”?
A spokesman for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution explains that the observation mandate only covers efforts that go against the free, democratic basic order. The only relevant question is whether there is an extremist tendency. It is not the job of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to “generally monitor or evaluate socially polarizing criticism.” The mission also does not include “skepticism that goes beyond philosophical rationality to irrational, sheer doubts.” Therefore, there is no information available about various groups and organizations that use the “Weitblick”.