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by Emma Lee Schätzlein & Leipzig Postcolonial, 2023

Street names are used for orientation in the urban space, but they also fulfill political commemorative tasks: By naming streets after people, places or events, these are honored and anchored in the collective memory of the city population. They are therefore always an expression of historiography from the point of view of those who had or have the power to decide on street names.

For decades there have been controversies initiated by civil society about street names that honor colonial-racist actors or deeds. As a rule, a critical contextualization (e.g. by means of explanatory signs) and, in extreme cases, a renaming are required for these, because colonial violence and contempt for human beings should not be glorified in the cityscape.

This also applies to Leipzig, because here too there are numerous street names that illustrate the city's involvement in colonial racism. In contrast to West German cities, many streets with a colonial background were already renamed during the GDR era. Since traces were quietly removed, a comprehensive historical review of colonialism was not carried out in East Germany either.

In the case of street renaming, there is also an opportunity to change perspectives from the perpetrators to the formerly colonized, thereby making resistance to colonial rule and colonial ideologies visible. The colonial-historical reference of the name is preserved, but previously neglected actors and invisible stories come into public awareness. An alternative name for the Ernst-Pinkert-Strasse dedicated to the founder of the Leipzig Zoo would be Hassan Essahas, who died of pneumonia in 1906 during a "people show" in the Leipzig Zoo.

Stationen

Former colonial district in Anger-Crottendorf

Colonial stone at the Monument to the Battle of the Nations

Wundtstrasse in the southern suburbs

Bismarckstrasse in Grosszschocher

Ratzelstrasse in Grünau

Ernst-Hasse-Strasse in Wahren

Lumumba Street and Memorial at the Herder Institute

Palais de la Nation

Ernst-Pinkert-Strasse in Zentrum-Nord

Memorial stone for Kamal Kilade at the main train station

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