Würzburg (dpa / lby) – The city of Würzburg will rename Kardinal-Faulhaber-Platz because of the controversial role of the Catholic churchman in National Socialism. Bishop Franz Jung criticized the decision in clear words on Friday. Experts had spoken out against renaming the square, instead proposing a classification with further, publicly available information.
The city council had decided the day before that the square in the vicinity of the Mainfranken-Theater should no longer be named after Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber (1869-1952). The reason: His role in National Socialism is now seen in ambiguity. Faulhaber comes from Lower Franconia and became prominent as the shepherd of Munich-Freising. A street in downtown Munich is named after Faulhaber.
“I regret the decision of the Würzburg city council to rename Kardinal-Faulhaber-Platz and I think it is wrong,” said Bishop Jung. The appreciation of Faulhaber with its own place has rightly been discussed “intensively and expertly” in the past few months. “In my opinion, the clarification of the questions raised here on a scientific basis is the right way,” said Jung. “The unanimous vote of proven experts was leveled out and ultimately declared irrelevant. This political approach to historical science is very questionable in a university town of all places.” Judgments about the past are possible – but always only taking into account the respective circumstances, said Jung.
According to a city spokeswoman, it is still unclear what the place could be called in the future. During the meeting, however, it was discussed whether the square might be named after the recently deceased former President of the State Parliament, Barbara Stamm.
