Street Names and Awkward Histories

Discussion

Discussion with Sonja Mittischek (Omas gegen Rechts [Grannies against the Right], Graz), Peter Piffl-Perčević (municipal council member, Graz), Karin Maria Schmidlechner (historian, Graz), and Florian Wenninger (historian, Vienna)
Moderated by Heimo Halbrainer

The history of street names in Graz is burdened, and it has led to many heated debates over the years. In 1995 activists replaced the street sign for Robert-Hohlbaum-Allee, named after a writer who enjoyed great popularity under the National Socialists, with “David-Herzog-Allee” in honor of the chief rabbi of Styria and Carinthia who fled the Nazis in 1938. Soon afterward this street was given the rather neutral name of Dubrovnik-Allee. More recently, similar attempts to change the street names of Graz have encountered less success. Despite the identification of twenty particularly problematic street names in the city by a fourteen-member expert commission, the conservative/right-wing populist coalition government in Graz has thwarted attempts at their renaming. The discussion delves into various aspects of this debate, asking whether additional plaques pointing to difficult histories are enough to solve the problem.

8.10.19, 19:00

Duration: ca. 90 min.

Grand Hôtel Wiesler
Grieskai 4-8
8020 Graz
♿ Venue accessible for wheelchairs
http://www.grandhotelwiesler.com

Google Maps

In German

Free admission