Landau citizens decide: Hindenburgstrasse is preserved!

Landau citizens decide: Hindenburgstrasse is preserved!

On February 23, 2025, a citizens' decision in Landau attracted attention when the citizens voted on the preservation of the street names Hans-Stampenstraße, Hindenburgstrasse and Kohl-Larsen-Straße. This decision was made at the same time as the Bundestag election. The coordination committee found the result on March 5, 2025: Out of 37,650 voters, 25,851 people took part in the vote, which corresponds to a participation of 68.7 %. 25,329 votes were counted as valid, whereby 15,942 yes votes (62.9 %) were pronounced for the preservation of the names, while 9,387 votes (37.1 %) were opposed to the proposal. The required quorum of 5,648 votes was thus clearly exceeded. This information was reported by pfalz-express.de

The discussion about the street names was long and controversial in the public public and the city council. Before the citizens 'decision, a citizens' initiative had supported the preservation of the names, which also contributed to the creation of more variety of opinion. In addition, a similar request from the CDU failed in March 2024, which provided an attachment of explanatory information about the namesake on the street signs. This initiative is now experiencing new support from a current application by the CDU city council group, which was submitted on April 1, 2025. The proposal stipulates that the city administration creates a text design that is decided in the main committee. In order to be able to provide additional information, a QR code is also proposed that refers to further explanations online as a supplement to the signs of the affected streets. According to SUEWPress.de , the initiators would like to look at the historical importance of the namesake in a differentiated way and contribute to opinion formation in the city.

controverses about historical street names

In times when the formative legacy of street names is discussed, the topic is not limited to Landau. In other cities such as Berlin, streets are also renamed that are connected with problematic personalities. This was recently visible in Neukölln during renaming two streets, the headstrasse in "Roland-Krüger-Straße" and Morussstraße in "Uwe-Lieschied-Straße". The interior senator Andreas Geisel described these renams as a sign of recognition for the killed police officers and, in the context of the challenges that gang crime brings with it. Parts of the text to such renams show that the discussion about historical stress is wide and a differentiated assessment is also required in Landau. These topics were dealt with in a report by Deutschlandfunk.de In summary, it can be said that the decision of the citizens in Landau and the new application of the CDU to provide explanatory references to street signs are in a greater discourse on history and identity in Germany. The return to a sensitive handling of history has the potential to stimulate managers and citizens to think about city limits.