"Birgit and Horst want a colourful Meck-Pomm, a colourful, open and tolerant Germany, without racism, without exclusion and without hate (...) They will not be driven out, they will not give in!
Singer Bosse (Laudatio at the presentation of the Eins Live Krone)Read more:
Nationality at birth: Germany
Partner
Horst Lohmeyer
Place of the fight for human rights: Jamel, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
| Area | Type | From | To | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training | 1980 | 1985 | Hamburg, Germany |
SPD
Location: Mecklenburg-VorpommernReason for entry:
Function / Activity:
Verband deutscher Schriftsteller
Location:Reason for entry:
Function / Activity:
Wismarer Lesebühne "WortReich"
Location: WismarReason for entry:
Function / Activity:
Leitmotif
Birgit Lohmeyer defends democratic rights in a village full of neo-Nazis.
How did the story become known?
The story became known through social media and through the festival “Jamel rockt den Förster” with prominent support from, among others, the band “Die Toten Hosen”.
When did the story become known?
The festival has been taking place since 2007. In 2015 the big barn of the Lohmeyers burned down by arson, after that the history and the festival became more known and “the Lohmeyers” received prominent support.
Where did the story become known?
Germany
By whom did the story become known?
Musicians
Prizes, Awards
2001 Marlowe – Beste Kriminalkurzgeschichte der Raymond-Chandler-Gesellschaft
2001 Nominierung für den Frauenkrimipreis der Stadt Wiesbaden
2003 Nominierung für den Agatha-Christie-Krimipreis
2005 Deutscher Kurzkrimi-Preis – 3. Platz
2011 Paul-Spiegel-Preis für Zivilcourage des Zentralrats der Juden in Deutschland
2011: Botschafter der Toleranz von Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz
2011: Helden des Nordens 2011
2012: Bürgerpreis der deutschen Zeitungen
2015: Georg-Leber-Preis für Zivilcourage
2017: Preis „Das unerschrockene Wort“ vom Bund der Lutherstädte
2018: Preis für Popkultur für „Gelebte Popkultur“ (Jamel rockt den Förster)
2018: 1 Live Krone für das Jamel-rockt-den-Förster-Festival (Sonderpreis)
2019: Live Entertainment Award (Preis der Jury)
Literature (literature, films, websites etc.)
Literatur und Tonträger im Katalog der deutschen Nationalbibliothek:
https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&query=1019744790
https://www.focus.de/politik/videos/rechtsextremismus-und-fremdenfeindlichkeit-zu-besuch-im-nazidorf-jamel-nur-eine-familie-kaempft-hier-tapfer-gegen-rassismus_id_6367489.html
https://invidio.us/watch?v=_93CZ6mfw5E&hl=de&local=true&autoplay=0&subtitles=%2C%2C
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-37280504/inside-the-neo-nazi-village-of-jamel
Martin Groß und Kiki Angerer (NEUE STEREO FILMPRODUKTION) haben einen schönen Festivalclip über das diesjährige Jamel rockt den Förster gemacht. Mit dabei sind unter anderem die Bands, die Lohmeyers und natürlich kommen auch Besucher zu Wort. Wir bedanken uns hiermit nochmal aufs Herzlichste bei KRAFTKLUB, den Beatsteaks, den Fehlfarben, Slime, Die Sterne, bei Goldroger, Schnipo Schranke, Schreng Schreng & La La, Das Auge Gottes, @teqilaandthesunrisegang (https://www.facebook.com/tequilaandthesunrisegang), Zaunpfahl – und natürlich danken wir Bela B und @fathilandViel Spass mit dem Video und hoffentlich bis zum nächsten Jahr!
Gepostet von Jamel rockt den Förster am Sonntag, 24. September 2017
https://invidio.us/watch?v=_93CZ6mfw5E&hl=de&local=true&autoplay=0&subtitles=%2C%2C
https://www.arte.tv/player/v3/index.php?json_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.arte.tv%2Fapi%2Fplayer%2Fv1%2Fconfig%2Fde%2F077876-000-A%3Fautostart%3D1%26lifeCycle%3D1&lang=de_DE&autostart=1&embed=0
https://invidio.us/watch?v=xpp2fc_ZeK0&hl=de&local=true&autoplay=0&subtitles=%2C%2C
Own works
Therapie mit Todesfolge. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-88520-907-1.
Kaputtmacher. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88520-912-8.
Süßer Sumpf. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg 2000, ISBN 3-921305-95-0.
Der Strohmann von Steilshoop. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-921305-87-X.
Letzte Ausfahrt Wilhelmsburg. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-921305-05-5.
Treibjagd an Bord. Roman. Scherz Verlag, Bern 2003, ISBN 3-502-51884-X.
Tod im Heuckenlock. Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-921305-16-0.
Sokops Rache. Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2012, ISBN 978-3-356-01484-6.
Wellers Zorn. Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2013, ISBN 978-3-356-01559-1.
Hamburg Blues. Vier Fälle für Last. Magma-Verlag, Rieps-Cronskamp 2013, ISBN 978-3-943992-08-3.
Nur die Kogge war Zeuge. Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2015, ISBN 978-3-356-01872-1.
And a series of short stories
- Personality
- Family environment
- Political attitude
- Education
INTRODUCTION
Birgit Lohmeyer defends democratic rights in a village full of neo-Nazis.
THE STORY
Birgit Lohmeyer
Writer and “Heroine of the North” in the struggle against right-wing extremism and Nazis
Birgit Lohmeyer, née Hölscher, was socially committed at an early age. At the end of the 1970s she began visiting inmates of Hamburg’s prisons. Later she studied educational science with a focus on extracurricular youth and adult training and criminology as a side course. After her studies she worked in the area of drug prevention for a good decade. However, she realized that this profession did not fill her for a long time, so she began to write and wrote stories, short stories and (crime) novels, in which she also processed her experiences in the drug scene and in the so-called Hamburg red light district Sankt Pauli.
In 2004, Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer fulfilled a lifelong dream. They moved into a listed forest farm in an idyllic landscape on the Baltic Sea and turned their backs on the big city of Hamburg. But within a very short time the climate in the village changed. At first it was just one family with right-wing extremist views, but soon others followed. In the meantime, about 90 to 95 percent of the village inhabitants belong to the Nazi scene, including families with children.
The mood in the village became hostile to the Lohmeyers, and there were threats, insults, theft and damage to property. To counteract this, Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer organised a rock festival in their garden in 2007 called “Jamel rockt den Förster”, against considerable resistance from their right-wing neighbours. In 2010 a festival visitor was beaten up. In August 2015 the landmarked barn of the Forsthof fell victim to an arson attack and burned out completely. Although the police and fire department found accelerants, the perpetrators could never be identified. But the Lohmeyers did not give up. With now prominent support, especially from the band “Die Toten Hosen”, the festival became bigger and more illustrious. It takes place every year in summer – still in the Lohmeyers’ huge garden.
The Lohmeyers received many awards for their moral courage, among others the Paul-Spiegel Prize and the Georg-Leber Prize for Civil Courage and the “1Live Krone” and the “Live Entertainment Award”. They were declared “Ambassadors of Tolerance” by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance and “Heroes of the North”.
The interview with Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer was conducted in July 2019 and can be read in the Fritz Bauer Blog under the title “Right-wing extremism is the greatest challenge in the 21st century” (in German language).
Author: Daniela Collette
Photos: Birgit Lohmeyer and Horst Lohmeyer ©Mike Fischer; stage design: Bosse ©Charles Engelke.
GALLERY
