When the far-right pilgrims made the pilgrimage to Obersalzberg on April 20, locals often looked away in shame. But not this year.
Hitler Youth in the Obersalzberg Photo: akg-images/Picture Alliance
BERCHTESGADEN taz | “Fascism is not an opinion, but a crime,” reads a banner held by two men on the Christmas Schützenplatz. Including the logo of the VVN-BdA, the association of those persecuted by the Nazi regime – Association of Antifascists. And on a sign that another man carries with him you can read: “Björn Höcke is a Nazi.” The messages are clear this April 20 in Berchtesgaden.
Christmas Schützenplatz – the place also fits. Not only because of its central location and its immediate proximity to the AlpenCongress, where the “Rock gegen Rechts” festival will also take place. The Christmas shooters of the same name represent in their ambivalence the difficult relationship that the inhabitants of Berchtesgaden have with their history. Already in 1933, the Bollerschützen, anchored in Christianity, rushed to offer Adolf Hitler honorary membership. Later, however, prominent representatives were said to have openly criticized the regime, so the clubs in which the shooters organized were classified as “resistance-like” during the denazification process. Your community has a special responsibility, said Mayor Franz Rasp in greeting during the rally.
More than a hundred people came to the square. Between the gentian distillery, the sports and traditional clothing stores and the pastry shop, they are located around the stage and bravely brave the rigors of the climate for approximately an hour and a half of “demonstration for a tolerant and peaceful coexistence.”
Raid on the Cuckoo's Nest
There is a reason why this event is taking place for the first time this year: an event that took place on August 24 at a local pub, the “Cuckoo's Nest”, and which even the British newspaper reported on. guardian reported. That night three men came to the bar decorated with a red star. All three wore T-shirts with the inscription “Germany Division.” Fashion that neo-Nazis like.
It was almost midnight. A disabled guest was sitting at a table in front of the pub drinking a beer. Out of nowhere and for no reason, one of the three men punched him in the face. For BUD, a network of those affected by right-wing violence, the act was clearly a “disability-motivated Nazi attack.”
Police later arrested two of the men; apparently they were neo-Nazis from northern Germany. It is reasonable to assume that, like many of his like-minded people, he wanted to visit the Obersalzberg. The owner of the “Cuckoo's Nest”, a friend of the victim, published a video on Instagram after the attack in which he recounted what happened. It was clicked thousands of times.
And that's how things got going. The shock of the attack was the initial spark for the Berchtesgaden anti-right initiative, which later formed around the club's current board members, Anna Stangassinger and Michael Gruber. There is a breath of optimism that runs through the community of 7,500 people, a breath of “We will not tolerate this anymore.”
They defy the Nazis and the climate.
Since then, the initiative organizes monthly meetings, information events and excursions. The association is also campaigning to rename Von Hindenburg Street in Berchtesgaden. It is not a problem specific to Berchtesgaden, in Germany there are dozens of streets named after Hindenburg, and in many places there is a desire to rename them. But here, at the foot of the Obersalzberg, completely different nerves are affected.
And that's why a hundred Berchtesgaden residents are here and showing their faces. For tolerance. Against hate. Against the Nazis. Sure, you could say there aren't too many. In January and February, other places in Bavaria obtained completely different figures. Back then, following the Potsdam meeting, at which AfD politicians also discussed deportation plans, a particularly large number of people took to the streets. On the other hand, first you have to reach the southeast corner of the republic. And in this weather? Rain, snow, sleet, temperatures slightly above freezing. After temperatures in Bavaria recently exceeded 20 degrees, winter has now arrived again.
Tolerance Day is a colorful day with puppet shows, acrobatic shows, rallies and lots and lots of music. “We have April 20. “Chosen for this event,” the organizers write on their website, “because on this day an increasing avalanche of far-right pilgrims is expected in Obersalzberg.”
A mountain of serious lights
April 20: Was there something? Yes, there was something there. Adolf Hitler was born on this day 135 years ago. In Braunau, in the Innviertel region of Upper Austria. Less than 90 kilometers north of here. And here, at the foot of the Obersalzberg, one had to experience the special presence of Adolf Hitler for many years. He came here regularly since 1923 and, after the seizure of power, he bought the Wachenfeld house, which he converted into the pompous Berghof.
We know the images that show the “Leader”. With Eva Braun. With the German shepherd Blondi. On the terrace, with the most beautiful alpine panorama. How he caresses children, how he leafs through books with Göring dressed in leather. Here he met Chamberlain. Here he argued with his generals and planned war crimes and crimes against humanity. The backdrop of the Berghof was probably Hitler's favorite propaganda motif. In the valley, people liked to sell many devotional items. Hitler's admirers made pilgrimages to Obersalzberg and, that's the problem, they still do so today.
That's why we celebrate and dance here now. Challenging all Nazis and die-hards who cultivate hatred and still celebrate the “Führer's birthday” in places where they feel particularly close to the spirit of the mass murderer.
“As long as there are people like that, it will remain a Hitler place,” says Sven Keller. The director of the documentary Obersalzberg, released in 1999, also spoke at the rally. He talks about this “historically critical date.” When he alludes to Hitler as a person, a visitor cannot contain himself: “Asshole!” He shouts loudly throughout the square. “He's not wrong,” Keller says. One of the involuntary tasks of the documentation staff is to repeatedly collect the remains of Hitler's admirers, mostly funeral candles. They already have whole boxes.
As strange as it may seem that nothing has changed to this day, Keller also sees positive signs of the times: 25 years ago, when the documentation was opened, there was still great skepticism about his work. The usual arguments: Is it necessary? Can't we just put the old stories to rest? But today, Keller says, the documentation site is widely accepted.
“Racism is blasphemy”
And sometimes it is the small signs of resistance from civil society that make Keller happy: for example, when a neo-Nazi left a relevant sticker on a sign on the way to the documentation, and shortly after it was covered by another sticker. Or the swastikas that people would still like to carve into the bark of the trees the Americans planted here so that nature could once again take possession of this unfortunate place. Other people then continued to carve the work in painstaking detail until the original symbol could no longer be recognized. Something like that gives him confidence.
To underline the breadth of their alliance, the organizers will allow as many speakers as possible to speak. The priest, also a representative of the DGB, speaks. The report of a woman who grew up in Berchtesgaden as the daughter of a black mother and who was exposed for many years to racism in her environment will be read. Even today, the woman prefers to remain anonymous.
Heinrich Bedford-Strohm also came to Berchtesgaden. Whoever is against right-wing extremism must also oppose it, he demands. The former regional bishop of Bavaria does not accept the escape into private life. Racism and contempt for humanity are blasphemy. And Christians in particular, Bedford-Strohm says, need to be in the front row when it comes to displaying the flag.
“The only true AfD”
And even the AfD makes an appearance. The “only true AfD”, of course, the “anti-fascist Dirndl”. They want to give back a positive meaning to these three letters after a party has stolen their name, says Martina Wenta, one of these dirndls. She stands in front of the microphone with a guitar. Well, now she won't be so musically demanding, she apologizes out of caution. “Let's see how far we can go with two chords.” The simple chord progression does not detract from the success of the song “I rise an Nazi gseng.” The crowd quickly sings along.
Finally, Friedbert Mühldorfer talks about the VVN-BdA. He advocates a ban on the AfD and reads a greeting from Holocaust survivor Ernst Grube. In it, Grube describes how he met his future wife's family when he was a teenager. A family whose father was murdered by the Nazis as a member of a communist resistance group: “Although I was excluded for being a Jewish child, there were also women and men who resisted the Nazis. This understanding was also the starting signal to get involved in the future for peace and justice and against the old and new Nazis.”
Today, confronting Nazis is no longer dangerous, just uncomfortable. But perhaps it is more necessary than ever. “The current exclusion of those seeking protection reminds me, of course, of the desperate hope of so many Jews in the Nazi era to somehow find refuge and protection abroad. This time we still have the opportunity to act in time.”
When the “Rock Against Right” festival begins early in the afternoon in the conference hall next door, some things are more rock, others more anti-right. There are local bands like Nony Music or the old folk rock band Die Combonisten, who play covers of Fleetwood Mac, Bruce Springsteen and Mumford & Sons.
But nationally renowned groups also perform, such as the Viennese female group Vulvarine, which combines rock, metal and punk, and former Biermösl-Blosn member Hans Well, who now performs with his daughter Sarah Well and Günzburg dulcimer virtuoso Komalé Akakpo. . A trio that is still in the discovery phase, but that promises a lot for the future. “Rock music instead of worship,” says Hans Well: “My God, if only the Führer knew that!”