Damaschkeweg stop is now called Enver-Şimşek-Platz stop

With the Jena public transport timetable change on 15.12.2021, there will be a new feature on the bus and streetcar route to and from Jena Winzerla: from now on, the Damaschkeweg stop will be called "Enver-Şimşek-Platz". Lord Mayor Dr. Thomas Nitzsche and JenaKultur plant manager Jonas Zipf explained the reasons for the renaming at a press event at the "Enver-Şimşek-Platz" stop .

Dr. Thomas Nitzsche said: "In 2020, in memory ofEnver-Şimşek, the first victim of the so-called National Socialist Underground , we named the square in Winzerla after him and thus created a central place of remembrance and reappraisal for the atrocious acts of the NSU. As part of the 'Kein Schlussstrich!Jena', citizens expressed the wish that the bus stop should also be named after this square. It will and must be our ongoing task to make the commemoration and reappraisal of the NSU visible in the city and for urban society.This is linked to our clear commitment that racism and exclusion have no place in our city."

Jonas Zipf, Director of JenaKultur, added: " In 2021, starting in Jena, we have endeavored to make the concerns of the victims of the NSU complex visible nationwide. As visible and successful as the project has become, it remains clear that what was true before the project is still true after the project: our mission is No End! The naming of the streetcar stop at Enver-Şimşek-Platz of the same name now also stands for this."

Marcus Komann from the Jena-Winzerla district council added: "It is important that we never forget the victims of right-wing terrorism.I am pleased that we are paying tribute to this memory in Winzerla in various ways."

All three thanked Jena public transport for implementing the plan, which involved a number of logistical challenges. In addition to the visible renaming of the stops, the displays in the streetcars were also changed.A voice announcement in the streetcars announcingthe exit atEnver-Şimşek-Platz will follow shortly in the new year.

Background

The idea of naming the square after Enver Şimşek arose during citizens' workshops that dealt with the design of Nord-Winzerla. The naming of the square is intended as a symbol of remembrance of Enver Şimşek and recognition of the city of Jena's responsibility on behalf of all victims of the NSU. The three main NSU perpetrators developed their extreme right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic ideas in Jena, openly flaunted them in Winzerla in the 1990s and committed right-wing extremist crimes. The series of murders with ten people killed, numerous people injured and traumatized by bomb attacks and robberies, the mishandling of investigations and the authorities' failure to act are appalling and have left many people stunned. This makes it all the more important to give public space to commemoration here in Jena, the hometown of the three main NSU perpetrators.

With the naming of the square, the bus and streetcar stop "Damaschkeweg ", which is located directly on the square, should also be renamed "Enver-Şimşek-Platz". This is also intended to refer to the central, large square and no longer to the street opposite.