At the opening of the Leipzig Book Fair, Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer (independent) was interrupted by boos from the audience. The criticism targets his decision to exclude three leftist bookstores from the German Book Trade Prize due to constitution protection concerns. Several hundred people demonstrated against his cultural policy outside the Gewandhaus.
The opening ceremony of the Leipzig Book Fair turned into a tribunal for Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer. Parts of the audience repeatedly booed his speech after he removed three bookstores – Buchladen zur schwankenden Weltkugel in Berlin, The Golden Shop in Bremen, and Rote Straße in Göttingen – from the nomination list for the German Book Trade Prize. Reason: 'verfassungsschutzrelevante Erkenntnisse' regarding the leftist bookstores. Weimer stands by his decision: 'I have passionately fought for freedom of opinion as a journalist and publisher for half my life. [...] The category of freedom and the category of promotion are two entirely different things.' He stressed the state's duty of care in funding with tax money: 'My state should reject all extremists equally: right-wing, left-wing, Islamists.' Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) defended Weimer: The approach is 'in principle logically sound,' though he did not request the constitution protection review. The affected bookstores criticized: 'We applied for a prize, would have received it, were lied to and struck off retrospectively.' They plan to sue. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels voiced criticism; chairman Sebastian Guggolz said: 'We will not be divided and played against each other through threatened use of constitution protection.' The prize honors owner-operated bookstores with up to 25,000 euros.
