Vattenfall reading days

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The Vattenfall Reading Days were a series of cultural events that took place in Hamburg for 15 years . The reading days were one of the largest literary festivals in northern Germany . They were discontinued in 2013 after criticism of the sponsor and organizer Vattenfall was raised. The energy company was accused of greenwashing ; in addition, counter-events had established themselves in the city.

history

The reading days were launched in 1999 by Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke AG (HEW). The title was "HEW Reading Days". In 2004 the literature festival had 14,000 visitors. In 2006 the energy company Vattenfall, which bought HEW in 2002, gave the reading days its name. The cooperation partners included the Norddeutsche Rundfunk (NDR) and the Hamburger Abendblatt , and the Hamburg cultural authority financially supported the children and youth program.

The readings took place in a wide variety of locations such as the planetarium , the book halls , the police headquarters , at the animal welfare association, in a funeral home, in the HSV Museum or on board the river boat's church.

Authors such as Jenny Erpenbeck , John von Düffel , Wigald Boning and Andrea Sawatzki read from their works . For example, on the 2011 reading days at the Kampnagel cultural center, the writers Jan Wallentin , Olle Lönnaeus and Jens Lapidus participated in the Swedish Crime Night . The 2011 literature festival had a total of around 12,000 visitors. In the same year, Vattenfall Europe was awarded the German Culture Promotion Prize for the reading days .

In 2012, 140 participants from twelve countries took part in more than a hundred events. Among the participants were Egon Bahr , Heiner Geißler , Christian Kracht and Veruschka Countess von Lehndorff . The last reading series in April 2013 had around 12,000 visitors.

Criticism of the reading days

From 2011 onwards, headwinds arose from the literary festival organized by Vattenfall. In addition to greenwashing , Vattenfall was also accused of branding .

After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, the NDR dropped out as a cooperation partner. The Kampnagel cultural center also no longer provided any rooms.

Atomic power opponent Günter Grass: "Before and after the Vatten case there was and is literature."

Counter-events such as reading without nuclear power and the “Hamburger Energie Wechsel-Lesetage” were founded in the city. Nobel laureate for literature Günter Grass read in April 2011 in a party tent in front of the Vattenfall nuclear power plant Krümmel the story from My Century for the year 1955, in which a man, department head in the land registry, builds a shelter in the garden out of fear of nuclear power and is killed in the process. Harry Rowohlt was the driving force behind “Do reading days yourself - say goodbye to Vattenfall” .

The citizenship member Norbert Hackbusch ( Die Linke ) made a small request to the Senate about the Vattenfall reading days, as did the parliamentary group of Bündnis90 / Die Grünen of the Hamburg citizenship .

In April 2013 it was reported that the curator of the reading days tried to put participants in the counter-events "Reading without nuclear power" under pressure and had made discrediting statements about the organizers. She is said to have called them “radical left” and “green juice producers”. Vattenfall distanced itself from this and called the competing events an enrichment for the city. The director of the book halls reported on an attempt by a Vattenfall delegation to exert undisguised influence in November 2012 with the aim of giving up cooperation with “Reading without nuclear power”. You have refused the request.

In October 2013 the organizers decided to end the Vattenfall reading days. The Hamburger Abendblatt then quoted representatives of the Hamburg cultural scene who expressed their regret. Among them were Senator for Culture Barbara Kisseler (independent), Peter Lohmann (Harbor Front Literature Festival) and Rainer Moritz ( Literaturhaus ). Moritz put it down: “Of course, there is an argument about whether it is worth supporting if an energy company like Vattenfall wants to enhance its corporate policy with culture.” Günter Grass, on the other hand, welcomed the end of the Vattenfall reading days and said: “Before and after the Vattenfall there was and is literature. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Klaus Irler: Zuviel Gegenwind , taz.de, October 4, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2015, passim .
  2. German Culture Promotion Prize 2011 for the Vattenfall Reading Days , corporate.vattenfall.de, press release from September 16, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  3. Leipzig Book Fair and Hamburg Vattenfall Reading Days : Two festivals all about books , mopo.de, March 14, 2006, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  4. Christoph Twickel: Complaint emails from the energy giant , spiegel.de, April 19, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017, passim.
  5. Flussschifferkirche ( Memento from January 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on January 25, 2017.
  6. Swedish Crime Night, kampnagel.de, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  7. 12,000 visitors at the 13th Vattenfall Reading Days , boersenblatt.net, April 15, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  8. German Culture Promotion Prize 2011 ( Memento from January 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), kulturkreis.eu, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  9. 14th Vattenfall Reading Days , boersenblatt.net, March 28, 2012, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  10. The reading days are no longer taking place , hamburg.de, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Günter Grass: Mein Jahrhundert , Steidl, Göttingen 1999, pp. 222-225 ISBN 3-88243-651-4 .
  12. ^ Ole Reissmann : Günter Grass rumbling against lobbyists , spiegel.de, April 10, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  13. Michael Jürgs : Evil has a name: Vattenfall , faz.net, April 8, 2011, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  14. Printed matter 20/7061 of March 5, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017 (PDF).
  15. ↑ Stop cultural funding for Vattenfall ( memento from January 25, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), gruene-fraktion-hamburg.de, April 18, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  16. Thomas Andre: Roger Willemsen and the left radical Ökosaft , welt.de, April 19, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  17. Stephanie Lamprecht: Opponents of the Vattenfall reading days harassed. Author Roger Willemsen: "We are slandered and insulted" , mopo.de, April 18, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  18. The reading days are no longer taking place , hamburg.de, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  19. Thomas Andre: Kulturszene regrets the end of the Vattenfall reading days , abendblatt.de, October 2, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017.
  20. Günter Grass welcomes the end of the Vattenfall Reading Days , abendblatt.de, October 15, 2013, accessed on January 25, 2017.