THE TIN DRUM BY GÜNTER GRASS JUNE 20 TH , 7.30 PM IN ENGLISH ! WE ALSO PRESENT PERFORMANCES WITH ENGLISH SURTITLES A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE by Tennessee Williams Jun 8 th , Jul 6 th & 7 th CALIGULA by Albert Camus Jun 9 th & 10 th THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE by Bertolt Brecht Jul 3 rd
POLITICS REPORTAGE ZEITGEIST ART MUSIC FILM STAGE €3.90 JUNE 2018 WWW.<strong>EXB</strong>ERLINER.COM 100% MADE IN BERLIN PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER 4 196148 403905 72 COLUMN— Political Notebook Antisemitism Kippa scandal gone haywire Bavaria feels its power return Konrad Werner explains German politics. This month: eccentrics in the south. Editor-in-chief Nadja Vancauwenberghe <strong>172</strong> Deputy editor Franziska Helms Web editor Walter Crasshole Film Paul O’Callaghan Art director Martin N. Hinze U1 Cover <strong>172</strong>.indd 3 22.05.18 19:44 Illustration: Agata Sasiuk Publishers Maurice Frank Nadja Vancauwenberghe Ioana Veleanu Editorial Design Music Michael Hoh Art Anna Larkin Stage Daniel Mufson Food Françoise Poilâne Graphic design Dom Okah This month’s contributors René Blixer, Yun-Hua Chen, Anna Gyulai Gaál, Vonnie Johnstone, Lily Kelting, Ivan Krasnov, Emma Lawson, David Mouriquand, Robert Rigney, Jane Silver Photography: Anastasia Chistyakova, Hanson Walker illustration: Agata Sasiuk Ad sales / Marketing Maurice Frank (business manager) Ori Behr (sales) To discuss advertising please contact us: Tel 030 2463 2564, ads@exberliner.com Subscriptions www.exberliner.com/subscribe Iomauna Media GmbH Max-Beer-Straße 48, 10119 Berlin-Mitte Tel 030 2463 2563, Fax 030 4737 2963 www.exberliner.com, Issn 1610-9015 Agood way of reading how raw political nerves in Germany have become is by looking at its most eccentric state: Bavaria. The new CSU state premier down there, Markus Söder, facing a hairy election this September, has gone balls-to-the-wall in his opening months on the job – first with an edict forcing all state buildings to display a cross, and second by introducing a new police law to expand state surveillance powers. Both plans were “made into facts”, as the Germans say – forcing social media, the media, and opposition politicians to debate them after they had already been decided. The ensuing outrage was vital to the blitz strategy the CSU has adopted these past months: make it happen, then make sure the liberals are complaining about it – so that the subsequent white noise takes over the media. But we need to backtrack a bit here, because there’s a context. Bavaria has been governed by the Christian Social Union (CSU) unbroken since 1957. The CSU is a Catholic conservative, separate-but-notseparate part of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The Anglo-media often refers to the CSU as a “sister-party” to the CDU, but that doesn’t really cover the innate identity crisis of the Bavarian party. The CSU’s whole political purpose since its inception has been to be the same as the CDU but different. If you’re a Bavarian conservative, you can’t vote for Merkel’s party, you have to vote for the CSU, which promises to be in Merkel’s government but also separate from it – standing apart. This Schrödinger’s Cat effect has become more intense with the rise of populism in and the throb of crisis is greater still now that the CSU is facing a state election, and has to fend off a serious challenge from the AfD. In last September’s federal election, the CSU took a beating in the state – dropping from nearly 50 percent to 38 percent – and that hole in their numbers was suspiciously AfD-shaped. The far-right party did indeed get 12 percent of the vote. If that result is repeated this year, the CSU will have to look for a coalition partner, and it really really hates doing that. All of this is why the CSU has gone into ultra-CSU mode, which means it is actively nurturing its inner AfD to win back those lost sheep. That’s why the cross edict wasn’t about Christianity, but, as Söder kept emphasizing, about “Bavarian identity”. That’s why all the bishops, not just the ones in Bavaria, were offended to see a politician reducing Jesus to a cloudy regional folklore figure who basically made certain Bavarians feel at home. Dissolving the boundaries between church and state compromises both. And oh yeah, it deliberately marginalizes anyone who isn’t Christian. Meanwhile, Bavaria’s police law basically means that cops can use all their digital surveillance powers as soon as they see the “threatened danger” of a serious crime being committed. Most other German states are already bringing in similar laws, but Bavaria’s interpretation is more aggressive than most. And guys like Söder know how to make hay while the sun shines – and he knows that the far-right clouds are closing in... n LPG BioMarkt GmbH, Mehringdamm 20-30, 10961 Berlin 9x in Berlin Charlottenburg: Kaiserdamm 12 Friedenau: Hauptstr. 78 Kreuzberg: Mehringdamm 20 Kreuzberg: Reichenberger Str. 37 Moabit: Alt-Moabit 98 (Spreebogen) Prenzlauer Berg: Kollwitzstr. 17 Steglitz: Albrechtstr. 33 Tempelhof: Viktoriastr. 18 Treptow: Bouchéstr. 12 From autumn also in Kreuzberg: Yorckstr. 24 NEW Welcome to bio paradise LPG BioMarkt fair & local since 1994 Honey 1kg from 6,69 € * Wine 0,75l from 2,49 € * Kiwis 1 piece from 0,39 € * Bread 1kg from 2,79 € * Pasta 500g from 0,89 € * Potatoes 1kg from 1,69 € * *Permanently reduced prices for members Check our new website for special offers and a lot more information: www.lpg-biomarkt.de
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