Weimer criticized for halting library construction

The German Library Association criticized that the proposal put forward by the BKM to focus more on the digital collection ignored the current legal basis. Such a fundamental change to the collection's mission should be properly examined by experts beforehand and not be made a "dependent variable of a structural measure".

Debate over procedure for German Bookstore Prize

Weimer had also recently sparked debate with the German Bookstore Prize. He had three left-wing bookshops in Berlin, Bremen and Göttingen removed from the prize list and justified this with "findings relevant to the protection of the constitution". A jury had selected the prize winners. Following this, there were calls for Weimer's resignation from the opposition, which the federal government rejected. He was accused of interfering with artistic freedom and acting dishonestly.

Weimer argued that the prize, which is financed with taxpayers' money, should not go to "enemies of the state". Following protests against the decision, he had the award ceremony planned for March 19 at the Leipzig Book Fair canceled. The award-winning bookshops are to receive the prize money and certificate directly.

Constitutional protection involved in another case

The dispute is also about the question of whether and how state-funded projects should be investigated by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution using the so-called Haber procedure. This refers to a review of state-funded projects by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution that was decreed in 2004 and later named after Emily Haber - a state secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Weimer applied this procedure once again - in addition to the three bookshops - according to a response to a written question from Green politician Sven Lehmann, who is chairman of the Bundestag's Culture Committee.

The BKM's response states: "The Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media has applied the Haber procedure in a total of four individual cases during this legislative period, three of which were in connection with the awarding of the German Bookstore Prize 2025. Further information cannot be provided due to confidentiality." It is therefore unclear in which other cases the procedure was used. It is also not yet known what the three excluded bookshops are accused of.

Lehmann spoke of a "creeping dismantling of the fundamental right to artistic freedom". This approach creates "a climate of fear and mistrust and is no different from authoritarian states".

"Wolfram Weimer is absolutely right"

The Minister of State for Culture, on the other hand, received support from the CDU/CSU. "It goes without saying that enemies of the constitution are not supported or honored with taxpayers' money," wrote Ottilie Klein (CDU), cultural policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, on Platform X. A defensive democracy is clearly opposed to any form of extremism. If "anti-constitutional institutions" do not receive tax-funded prizes, that is not the end of artistic freedom.

Gitta Connemann (CDU), Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs, expressed a similar view. "'Germany die please' on the facade - and then complain about the lack of 'state money'. Remarkable logic," she wrote on X. "Anyone who despises this country has no right to its funding. Wolfram Weimer is absolutely right." The words "Deutschland verrecke bitte" can be read on the awning of the Bremen bookshop "Golden Shop".

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