After booing: Börsenverein renews criticism of Weimer

The head of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, Sebastian Guggolz, has once again sharply criticized the actions of Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer in connection with the German Bookstore Prize. Speaking on WDR 5 Morgenecho, he said that Weimer was "narrowing the space on the left" and thus curtailing the broad corridor of opinion he himself propagates.

Guggolz criticizes lack of transparency

The reason for this is the decision to remove three bookshops in Berlin, Bremen and Göttingen from the list of nominees. Weimer had justified the removal of the bookshops with "findings relevant to the protection of the constitution". Guggolz now criticized Weimer for continuing to describe the stores as "left-wing extremist" or "enemies of the constitution" without any reliable facts to back this up.

"And this lack of transparency of the entire process from A to Z is something we still have to accuse Mr Weimer of," criticized Guggolz. No specific allegations had been disclosed, nor had the bookshops concerned been consulted. Decisions without a comprehensible basis created uncertainty in the industry and were "highly questionable", he said.

Weimer defended his actions

Weimer had said on Wednesday evening at the opening ceremony of the Leipzig Book Fair that he took the criticism seriously. As a journalist and publisher, he himself had fought for freedom of expression and against an overbearing state. "But the category of freedom and the category of promotion are two completely different things. Let's be very clear."

When it comes to active promotion with taxpayers' money, the state has a duty of care. "My state should reject all extremists equally: Right-wingers, left-wingers, Islamists," says Weimer. He suggested further developing the Book Trade Prize with the Börsenverein and other partners.

Cries of booing at the opening ceremony of the Book Fair

A section of the audience booed the Minister of State for Culture in Leipzig's Gewandhaus. His speech was also repeatedly interrupted by heckling.

Weimer will have another appointment at the book fair on Thursday evening: He will take part in a panel discussion on freedom of expression at the German National Library. However, the Minister of State for Culture has canceled an originally planned tour of the fair due to a Bundestag debate in Berlin.