INTRODUCTION

Horst Lohmeyer and his wife Birgit defend democratic rights in a village full of neo-Nazis.

THE STORY

Horst Lohmeyer, Jamel (Germany)
“Right-wing terrorism is the most important challenge of the 21st century”

Horst Lohmeyer is actually an urban plant. He comes from Hamburg and for a long time he lived with his wife Birgit in the middle of St. Pauli. As a freelance artist and musician, however, he was never tied to one place. “Artistically, I was on ‘the mile’ a lot.” (“The mile” refers to the St. Pauli district of Hamburg.)

In 2004 Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer accomplished a lifelong dream. They took over a landmarked 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 villagers 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 organized a rock festival in their garden called “Jamel rockt den Förster” in 2007, against considerable objections from their right-wing neighbours. In 2010, a festival visitor was beaten up. In August 2015 the listed barn of the Forsthof was destroyed in an arson attack and burned out completely. Although the police and fire department found accelerants, the perpetrators could never be identified.

“Jamel rocks the forester”

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’ big garden. The Lohmeyers received many awards for their moral courage, among others the Paul-Spiegel Prize (1) and the Georg-Leber Prize for civil courage and the “1Live Krone” and the “Live Entertainment Award”. They were declared “Ambassadors of Tolerance” and “Heroes of the North” by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance.

An interview with Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer was conducted in July 2019 and can be read on the Fritz Bauer Blog under the title “Right-wing terrorism is the greatest challenge in the 21st century” (Interview in German language).
 
 

Author: Daniela Collette
Photos: Birgit Lohmeyer and Horst Lohmeyer ©Mike Fischer; Stage design: Bosse ©Charles Engelke.

Annotations

(1) Paul Spiegel (1937-2006) was a German journalist and entrepreneur. He was President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) from 2000 until his death.

(2) Georg Leber (1920-2012) was a bricklayer and trade unionist, he was chairman of the German Social Democratic Party from 1964-1987.