In the Berlin bookstore that flew from Weimer Liste | EUROtoday

Marion Liebhold has simply picked up the telephone when the telephone rings once more. The co-owner of the “Bookstore for the Shaking World Globe” in Berlin closes her eyes, breathes out and in briefly, then picks up, her voice any longer echoing by way of the small store. The crammed bookshelves attain as much as the ceiling, and prospects flick through rows of volumes of poetry, political concept and standard novels. However, Liebhold has little time for session this Wednesday. “Half the world is asking what’s going on with us,” she says after her telephone name, “but I’d like to know myself.”

Liebhold’s store is among the three bookstores that had been purported to be awarded the German Bookstore Prize at the start of February. Since 2015, the federal authorities has awarded it yearly to owner-managed outlets; the awards are value between 7,000 and 25,000 euros. Last 12 months, 483 bookstores utilized and, as traditional, a jury selected a complete of 118 winners. Before the announcement, nonetheless, Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer eliminated three bookstores from the record: the “Bookstore for the Shaking Globe” in Berlin, “The Golden Shop” in Bremen and “Rote Straße” in Göttingen. There are findings from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution about them, based on the FAZ’s request

The recipients of donations should stand on the idea of the free democratic primary order, says the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM): “If information relevant to the protection of the constitution is available, there cannot be any federal prizes with taxpayer money.” The authority acted based on the so-called “Haber procedure”: Federal ministries can then have organizations and folks examined by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution so as to not inadvertently distribute public cash to enemies of the structure.

The homeowners of the three bookstores solely discovered concerning the cancellation by way of reporting and from the remark by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “We literally know nothing,” mentioned Jürgen Ehbrecht from Göttingen’s “Rote Straße” when requested by the FAZ. “We were not contacted about this by either the Bookstore Prize or the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media,” mentioned proprietor Ausma Zvidrina of “The Golden Shop” in Bremen.

As the winner of the German Bookstore Prize, the BKM has the suitable to intervene within the awarding course of, however there’s nonetheless a number of criticism of the method. Suspecting “extremist and terrorist organizations, groups or individuals” stays “extremely questionable” so long as no concrete proof is disclosed, writes the German Book Trade Association. The BKM introduced, nonetheless, that the findings of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had been topic to secret safety.

All three bookstores might be assigned to the left spectrum. “Yes, the Golden Shop feels connected to many subcultures that protect threatened minorities from Nazis or work for a fairer society,” mentioned proprietor Ausma Zvidrina from Bremen, however she basically rejects the “concept of left-wing extremism.” In distinction to neo-Nazis or Islamists, these teams are firmly primarily based on democratic values.

There are additionally stickers with anti-fascist slogans on the facade of the shop in Berlin, and posters level to demonstrations on the approaching Women’s Day. Inside, the tram rattling previous swallows the scraps of phrases from co-owner Marion Liebhold. In addition to press inquiries, buddies and acquaintances additionally hold calling to specific their solidarity. Also a buyer who enters the shop. She examine Weimer’s marketing campaign, she says: “I thought to myself, today is a good day to shop here.”