Road renamations in Graz and Krems: Learning from history

The city of Krems on the Danube has taken a significant measure as part of an ongoing examination of the past. In the future, an accompanying board will be attached to Hans-Plöckinger-Straße in Stein that indicates the problematic past of the namesake. The table will draw attention to Hans Plöckinger's NSDAP membership and his activities in the Nazi city administration. Furthermore, reference is made to anti -Semitic elements in his writings.

The decision to introduce this measure was carried out on the recommendation of the "Historian Advisory Board", as Edith Blaschitz, a research assistant at the University of Krems and Member of the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board has set itself the goal of supporting the city in contemporary historical questions and deliberately pointing out the burdens of personalities that are related to National Socialism.

The goal of historical processing

Blaschitz emphasizes that it is important to learn from history. According to her statement, you cannot simply ignore what has happened: "You have to know about the past and cannot pretend that it has never happened. Learning from history has a great importance for the present."

The transformation of road racing is associated with challenges. Instead of working with renaming, additional boards are generally used in order to preserve both the original name and to inform about the problematic aspects of the person. In addition, only one street was renamed Krems, Maria Gengg-Gasse, which is now named after the reform teacher Margarethe Schörl. The name Grengg has been changed because it openly expressed her veneration for Adolf Hitler.

Gerald Lamprecht, head of the Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Graz, has also intensively examined the problem of the contaminated street names. He believes that it is essential to promote social discourse. "When a street is renamed, it is important to have documented and explained this process," said Lamprecht. This is the only way to convey a clear intention of the municipality that says that personalities with a problematic background are not accepted as representatives of the city.

In the past few years, a certain standard has established itself in Austria: numerous streets are preserved instead of being renamed. Lamprecht emphasizes that this type of processing is a negotiation process in which the society must agree on which values ​​should be represented. This is particularly relevant for future generations and shows a clear way in dealing with history.

These developments in Krems reflect the increasingly growing awareness of responsibility in dealing with historically contaminated names. More information about the background and further discussions on these topics can be found in the article by Kurier.at can be read.