The next culture war is looming in Zurich. It concerns the demolition of the historic Pfauensaal, which was a stronghold of cultural resistance against the Nazi regime during the Second World War. In any other country, this would be a place of remembrance - but not in Zurich. The red-green city government under the leadership of mayor Corine Mauch and head of building construction André Odermatt wants to demolish and rebuild the hall for around 115 million francs in an act of historical ignorance. The reason: it is not suitable for modern theater. Which is a bit absurd, since Brecht, Frisch, Dürrenmatt, Hürlimann and also belarus rcs data Marthaler celebrated much-acclaimed world premieres in the venerable Pfauensaal and Zurich already has a so-called modern theater of the highest standard with the Schiffbau. When I wrote a blog post on this topic on persoenlich.com last November , there were many positive reactions that showed that there is a great need to preserve the hall. Motto: Dürrenmatt instead of Odermatt!
As a result, we – the advertiser Peter Lesch, ex-SP municipal councillor Bruno Kammerer, the former Condor boss Martin Fueter and the author – launched a committee called “Save the Peacock”, which is fighting against the demolition with its own website and a petition to convince the population and politicians of the nonsense of this action. Around 300 people have now signed, including former mayor Elmar Ledergerber, writers Peter Stamm, Martin Walser and Mathias Nolte, literary luminary Peter von Matt, Bernhard Theater director Hanna Scheuring, entrepreneur and film producer Hans Syz, former artistic director Gerd Leo Kuck, left-wing ex-National Council members Andreas Herczog, Andreas Gross and Jean Ziegler, municipal council members Willi Wottreng, Stefan Urech and Severin Pflüger (FDP President of the City of Zurich), ADC President Frank Bodin, Pfauen innkeeper Rudi Bindella, ex-Tagi editor-in-chief Peter Hartmeier and many others. In addition, the Zurich Heritage Protection Association with Lydia Trüb and the ETH architecture professors are also mobilizing against this urban development project. So far, so good.