Controversial Book Fair Returns for Another Edition—Protest Planned

The organizers of the controversial “Seitenwechsel” book fair are expecting significantly more visitors in the event’s second year in Halle. Advance ticket sales are up 30 percent from last year, organizer Susanne Dagen told the German Press Agency. Dagen is a member of the AfD city council faction in Dresden and has run a bookstore in the Loschwitz neighborhood for many years. The fair took place for the first time last year. According to the organizers, 6,000 visitors attended.

According to the fair’s exhibitor directory, over 140 authors and publishers have registered for the two days of the upcoming weekend—including, for example, “Compact-Magazin” and Antaios Publishing. Both publishers, based in Saxony-Anhalt, are classified by state and federal counterintelligence agencies as “confirmed far-right extremist.” The Magdeburg Ministry of the Interior stated upon inquiry that some of the fair’s exhibitors belong to the “constitutional protection-relevant segment of the so-called New Right.” 

AfD politicians Chrupalla and Tillschneider invited as speakers

Such classifications “by authorities bound by directives” are irrelevant to them, explains fair organizer Dagen in response to an inquiry. The fair’s website states that exhibitors and exhibits that “glorify dictatorships or are directed against a free society” will not be admitted. The aim is to provide a platform for “opposition-oriented conservative views.”

Controversial figures such as former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen and cabaret artist Uwe Steimle have been announced as speakers and panelists. Alongside them, the program also features the co-chair of the AfD’s Bundestag caucus, Tino Chrupalla, and the AfD’s state parliament vice president, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider. According to the program, he will speak on cultural policy and “What it’s like to be German.” 

Protest organizers criticize “far-right book fair”

Protests are being planned ahead of the controversial event. Under the slogan “Antifascist Change of Era,” an alliance is calling for a demonstration at the Steintor on Sunday at 11 a.m. A protest rally is planned in front of the fair building starting at 1:30 p.m. “We are fighting against the establishment of an extreme-right book fair,” the organizers explain. They are particularly critical of the “connections surrounding the Antaios publishing house.” “The authors published by this press are known for their sexist, anti-Semitic, racist, anti-democratic, and ethno-nationalist views,” the statement continues. 

The “Wir-Festival,” founded last year as a counter-event to the book fair, will also take place again on Saturday. The goal is to celebrate democratic coexistence in the heart of Halle, the organizers say. Literary and musical events, as well as participatory activities, are planned as part of a day-long festival centered around August-Bebel-Platz in Halle.