Egg throw from Halle

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Place in front of the town house

A protest action in which demonstrators threw eggs at the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on May 10, 1991 in the city of Halle (Saale) in front of the town hall is known as the egg-throwing of Halle . The event was seen as a symbolic turning point for the relationship between the "Wendekanzler" Helmut Kohl and the East German population.

background

Publicly throwing food at people, such as throwing a cake , is usually intended to ridicule the victim as an expression of political protest.

After the reunification and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the then Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl predicted the future economic prospects for the “ new federal states ” as “ blossoming landscapes ”, which initially led to enthusiasm, but later, after plant closures and increasing unemployment, increased frustration among the East German population. As Federal Chancellor, he made inaugural visits to several cities in eastern Germany. During a visit to Erfurt in early April 1991, eggs were thrown in his direction, but they did not hit him. On his round trip in May, he first visited the Buna works to speak about their preservation there, then went to Bitterfeld and finally to an “information visit ” to Halle.

Course of events

On the way from the Ratshof to the town hall, Helmut Kohl was received by several hundred people. He walked up to some of those present and shook hands with them. Whistles and boos were heard, as well as a chorus that repeatedly shouted “ Liars, liars” . Several dozen young demonstrators behind a barricade began to throw eggs , tomatoes and bags of paint at Kohl and hit him on the head and on the suit. Kohl then ran towards the people. He began a tussle with them, separated by the partially sliding and opening grille, and tried to reach for them. In the absence of the police, several of Kohl's bodyguards attempted to remove him from the crowd, while Kohl was still being pelted. Among the throwers was the then deputy chairman of the Jusos in Halle and 21-year-old law student Matthias Schipke, who was sitting on the shoulders of another demonstrator and holding a Juso flag in his hand.

Immediately after the scuffle, Kohl went to other visitors, who were also behind the barricade, to shake hands with them. After the event, Kohl left the building under police protection through the back exit. Schipke was later identified on television recordings and arrested, but remained unpunished as Kohl did not file a complaint.

Reactions

After the event, Helmut Kohl criticized the security situation as "miserable" and blamed the then Minister of the Interior of Saxony-Anhalt Wolfgang Braun . This and the Saxony-Anhalt police were accused of having an inadequate security concept. Kohl described the egg throwers as a "portable mob" that had nothing to do with Halle. He later commented on his offensive reaction during the throws to a journalist with the words: “Since I have no intention of running away if someone stands in front of me and throws me at me, I just walked up to them and there was a grid in between and that was it useful - for whom I did not say that I leave you. " . Kohl was criticized for his offensive approach. The then police inspector in Magdeburg Karl Lichtenberg also made Kohl jointly responsible for the situation, as contrary to the protocol, he had got out of the car 60 meters before the intended point in order to face the crowd. The then head of the Saxony-Anhalt State Criminal Police Office, Volker Limburg, also said that Kohl had not adhered to the security concept, which led to a “security vacuum” “until the forces were relocated”.

Schipke, who was involved in the protest, later stated that this was planned as fun and apologized for the act: “I really distance myself from my behavior. I would also like to apologize to Chancellor Kohl for this. I am fully behind the fact that we held a rally there. But no longer from the violence that started from it. And throwing eggs is probably also violence. ” Later he said in a television interview that the Chancellor should also have apologized for his promises, “ which he could not keep or did not want to keep ” .

The CDU demanded an apology from the SPD party leader Hans-Jochen Vogel , which he refused. Franz Müntefering condemned the action as “extremist excesses”, but showed understanding for the frustration of the demonstrators, as Kohl had awakened illusions regarding the development of the new federal states, and described this as the real “big egg”.

The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt Reinhard Höppner criticized an allegedly wrong focus in the reporting: “The most important damage is that after Halle only the egg throwing was discussed. The problems we have here and which are actually at stake, which should have been discussed and arguing intensively, have fallen down. And with that, the people it affects fell down. "

Schipke was threatened with expulsion from the party by the SPD, but he left the SPD voluntarily. In the public debate, Schipke and the action were also expressed sympathy.

Photos of the action were used by a newspaper for an advertising campaign.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the event, a “temporary memorial” was set for the egg-throwing as part of an art campaign.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steffen Honig: Helmut Kohl: Ambition, Unity, Egg Litter. Retrieved February 4, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b c d mdr.de: Employment Office and Egg Litter | Part 3/3 | MDR.DE . ( mdr.de [accessed on February 4, 2017]).
  3. ↑ a b Christoph Tiegel : Deadline: May 10, 1991 - Eggs are thrown at Helmut Kohl in Halle. In: due date. WDR , May 10, 2016, accessed on April 5, 2019 (text version).
  4. ↑ Steffen Könau: 25th anniversary: ​​Attack of the unit chancellor on egg thrower in Halle . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . ( mz-web.de [accessed on February 4, 2017]).
  5. ↑ 25 years ago today: Halle's egg litter . In: You are Halle . May 10, 2016 ( dubisthalle.de [accessed February 4, 2017]).
  6. ↑ Steffen Könau: 20 years ago: eggs on the unity chancellor . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . ( mz-web.de [accessed on February 4, 2017]).
  7. ^ Warnke, Hendrik Ziegler: Handbook of political iconography . tape 1 , p. 116 ff .
  8. ↑ Christoph Tiegel: Deadline: Eggs were thrown at Chancellor Kohl in Halle (on May 10, 1991). In: due date. WDR, May 10, 2016, accessed on April 5, 2019 (audio version).
  9. ↑ Raw arguments . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed on February 4, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Steffen Könau: 25th anniversary: ​​Attack of the unit chancellor on egg thrower in Halle . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung . ( mz-web.de [accessed on February 4, 2017]).
  11. ↑ Nico Elste: An interview with action artist Simone Schicke. May 15, 2011, accessed February 4, 2017 .

Coordinates: 51 ° 28 ′ 56.2 ″  N , 11 ° 58 ′ 13.9 ″  E