After Ravensburger Verlag announced on August 11 that it was withdrawing two Winnetou books from sale due to allegations of cultural appropriation, many people and the publisher itself expressed their feelings about the decision.
Ravensburger Verlag is heavily criticized. Actually, “Winnetou” media were supposed to accompany the film start of the youth film “The Young Chief Winnetou” and be available in stores. The citizens interviewed now explained why they did not think the decision was right: According to a representative survey by the YouGov research institute, which surveyed 2,837 people, 68 percent of those surveyed were against Winnetou’s recall. Only 13 percent agree. The remaining 18 percent did not provide any information.
“We can assure you: We learn from it!”
The publisher also made a statement in a statement on Instagram. It says: “Our editors deal intensively with topics such as diversity or cultural appropriation. The colleagues discuss the consequences for the future program and revise, title by title, our existing range”.
Furthermore, the publisher makes an indirect apology and admits the “mistake”. They explained: “The decision to publish the titles would not be something we would make today. We made a mistake at the time and we can assure you: we are learning from it!”.
The disappointment is great
Nevertheless, most citizens are disappointed. One user commented on an Instagram post from the publisher: “I would rather have the book for the Winnetou film. It’s a shame that you no longer give your customers a choice, but let a few alleged “woke people” dictate what you sell”. The reactions to the current Winnetou debate are spread over several articles by Ravensburger Verlag – although these do not deal with the topic at all. Another user commented under a post about the book illustrator Marion Kreimeyer-Visse: “You want to ban Winnetou? How can you bow to a small radical left minority? I just don’t understand that.”