The city of Frankfurt and the state of Hesse regret the decision of the administrative court to allow the performance of the controversial musician Roger Waters in the Frankfurt Festhalle. This is announced by the responsible city treasury. "We regret that the court did not follow our reasoning, as we still consider the appearance of Roger Waters to be a heavy burden."

Bernhard Biener

Editor at the Rhein-Main-Zeitung

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Alexander Jürgs

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Anna-Sophia Lang

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Theresa White

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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The politicians respected the judge's decision. The decision and justification are still being evaluated; it is still unclear whether there will be an appeal. Those responsible agreed with the co-shareholder on how to proceed.

Covered by artistic freedom

The administrative court had ruled on Monday that Waters was allowed to perform, otherwise his right to artistic freedom would be violated. The board of the Jewish Community finds this incomprehensible. "The argument that the fundamental right of artistic freedom was violated by the cancellation of the concert by the fair management would only apply in our understanding if anti-Semitism is now covered by artistic freedom in Germany."

The decision speaks for an ignorance of the historical and current responsibility to combat hatred of Jews in Germany. The fact that the court could not determine how the "dignity of the Jews rounded up in the Festhalle during Kristallnacht" could be violated by the appearance of an anti-Semite at the same place leaves the community with many questions.

Accusation of incitement to hatred against Waters

Simone Hofmann is also "outraged and appalled, but not surprised". The Frankfurt native is involved in a civil society alliance that opposes the appearances of Roger Waters in Germany. She considers it unacceptable "that anti-Semitism is covered by freedom of expression." Waters accuses them of "incitement to hatred". "We Jews are expected to have to endure something like this," she says. "If this were to happen to another minority, the reactions would be very different." Hofmann expects the city and state to appeal against the decision. "If that doesn't happen, then everything the city and country said beforehand was just hot air," she says.

This is also the view of the German-Israeli Society (DIG). Tibor Luckenbach, deputy chairman of the association, says that the city must exhaust all possibilities to take action against the appearance – even if it costs a lot and has little chance of success. For the future, he calls for such situations to be prevented by reviewing the dedication of the festival hall.

Historical features of the Festhalle

In the reasoning of its decision, the court says that, despite the historical peculiarities of the festival hall, there are no conditions for its use so far. In 1938, about 3000,<> Jewish citizens were rounded up, mistreated and then deported to concentration camps. Against this historical background, an appearance that "obviously uses a symbolism based on National Socialist rule" may be judged to be particularly distasteful, according to the judges. However, this assessment could not play a role in the administrative and constitutional examination.

Regardless of the legal process, the Jewish Community "does not want to stand idly by while a Jew-hater like Roger Waters spreads his anti-Semitic poison." It calls for a broad alliance of society as a whole to protest against the appearance. "We have just seen how Roger Waters reacts to the criticism: On Twitter, he has made confused and historically distorted statements," says Luckenbach.German "He compared himself to the Nazi victim Sophie Scholl. Everyone should demonstrate against him performing." The activist Hofmann wants to take part in protests. She hopes that a rally can take place right at the entrance to the fair. "Peaceful, but loud," she wants to demonstrate against Waters. "We don't keep our mouths shut anymore."