40 politicians lead new drive to save German orchestra
mainSome 40 members of the federal and state Bundestag have launched a new petition to save the the SWR Baden-Baden and Freiburg symphony orchestra which a bull-headed broadcasting management plans to merge with Stuttgart. If the issue goes federal, the SWR bosses could well lose. Until now, the orch has benefited chiefly from support by eminent musicians.
As in Minnesota, however, the orchestra is being destabilised and both players and conductor are looking to their future.
Here’s the list of politicians:
Die Initiativgruppe:
Kerstin Andreae (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Dr. Gernot Erler (MdB), SPD, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Matern von Marschall (MdB), CDU, WK Freiburg i.Br.
Christoph Bayer (MdL), SPD, WK Breisgau
Bärbl Mielich (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Breisgau
Dr. Patrick Rapp (MdL), CDU, WK Breisgau
Gabi Rolland (MdL), SPD, WK Freiburg II
Weitere unterzeichnende Abgeordnete in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
Dr. Franziska Brantner (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Heidelberg
Prof. Dr. Lars Castellucci (MdB), SPD, WK Rhein-Neckar
Elvira Drobinski-Weiß, (MdB), SPD, WK Offenburg
Thomas Dörflinger (MdB), CDU, WK Waldshut
Dr. Johannes Fechner, (MdB), SPD, WK Emmendingen-Lahr
Axel E. Fischer (MdB), CDU, WK Karlsruhe-Land
Thorsten Frei (MdB), CDU, WK Schwarzwald-Baar
Josef Frey (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Lörrach
Anneke Graner (MdL), SPD, WK Ettlingen
Manfred Groh (MdL), CDU, WK Karlsruhe I
Walter Heiler (MdL), SPD, WK Bruchsal
Karl-Wolfgang Jägel (MdL), CDU, WK Rastatt
Gabriele Katzmarek (MdB), SPD, WK Rastatt
Ernst Kopp (MdL), SPD, WK Rastatt
Sylvia Kotting-Uhl (MdB), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Karlsruhe
Kordula Kovac (MdB), CDU, WK Offenburg
Dr. Dr.h.c. Karl A. Lamers (MdB), CDU, WK Heidelberg-Weinheim
Ulrich Lusche (MdL), CDU, WK Lörrach
Thomas Marwein (MdL), Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, WK Offenburg
Reinhold Pix (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Freiburg I
Heribert Rech (MdL), CDU, WK Bruchsal
Wolfgang Reuther (MdL), CDU, WK Singen-Stockach
Dorothee Schlegel (MdB), SPD, WK Tauber-Odenwald
Gabriele Schmidt (MdB), CDU, WK Waldshut
Alexander Schoch (MdL), Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, WK Emmendingen
Armin Schuster (MdB), CDU, WK Lörrach-Müllheim
Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, (MdB), SPD, Staatssekretärin, WK Waldshut
Willi Stächele (MdL), CDU, WK Kehl
Johannes Stober (MdL), SPD, WK Karlsruhe I
Georg Wacker (MdL), CDU, WK Weinheim
Peter Weiß (MdB), CDU, WK Emmendingen-Lahr
Ingo Wellenreuther (MdB), CDU, WK Karlsruhe-Stadt
Sabine Wölfle (MdL), SPD, WK Emmendingen
How many UK politicians would fight to save our orchestras?
🙂 NON!
It looks like all the signatories are from Baden-Wurttemberg, so it hasn’t gone Federal yet. On the other hand, they represent all the major parties, Green, SPD, and CDU — and in good numbers. This will probably have a stronger effect than the letters from conductors and composers.
Yes, they’re all from Baden-Württemberg, but those with an “MdB” behind the name are “Mitglied des Bundestags”, i.e. federal MPs, as opposed to the state MPs (MdL – Mitglied des Landtags).
However, federal government and parliament have no (official) say in this issue, as the SWR is a self governing broadcasting corporation of the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rheinland-Pfalz. Though, a friendly Ms. Chancellor calling the SWR-Intendant and remindning him of the orchestra’s importance might still help…
True, the politicians have no official say, but the politicians in each state of Germany do have a good deal of influence on each state’s state broadcaster, so this might have some effect. Still missing are some names of some of the most important politicians.