Heinrichplatz on Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg is now called Rio-Reiser-Platz Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Monika Skolimowska/Christian Lohse
By Oliver Ohmann
Now Kreuzberg has its Rio-Reiser-Platz. But why didn’t other prominent Berliners who died received such an honor as well? A comment from BZ editor Oliver Ohmann.
Rio Reiser would have turned 60 in 2010. At the time, a newspaper asked his brother where Rio felt at home. Answer: “I think Hessen was a piece of home. He didn’t feel at home in Berlin.”
In 2022, a prominent place in Berlin will be named after Rio Reiser. Why? Because it’s still the way he sang it. Because those in power – in this case they sit in the green district office of Kreuzberg – want it that way.
I think Rio Reiser is okay, I think he should have his place. But I can immediately think of a few artists (and I’ll only name the men) who would certainly have deserved such an honor: Wolfgang Gruner, Wolfgang Neuss, Harald Juhnke, Wolfgang Spier, Günter Pfitzmann, Hotte Buchholz, Ingo Insterburg, Wolfgang Völz and Manne Krug.
Where are their streets and squares?