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A committee led by former member of the Council of States Paul Rechsteiner (SP) has called for a name change to “Recha-Sternbuch-Platz”.
It is one of the most popular squares in the city of St. Gallen: the Red Square right in the center. With its charismatic red carpet, it is known far beyond the city limits. The renowned St. Gallen artist Pipilotti Rist was responsible for the design 18 years ago together with other artists. Since then it has officially been called Raiffeisenplatz because the bank has its headquarters there.
A committee headed by Paul Rechsteiner, a former member of the St. Gallen Council, is now shaking up this name. It goes against the allegedly anti-Semitic background of the bank founder Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen. The committee therefore wants to rename the square and dedicate it to a Jewish refugee helper.
Two years ago, the committee wrote to the city of St. Gallen and the Raiffeisenbank asking them to take action to rename the square. Because nothing has happened since then, the demand is now being made public, said former SP Councilor Paul Rechsteiner on site. “We have a huge opportunity in St. Gallen to now also properly name the Red Square after Paul-Grüningerplatz,” said Rechsteiner.
In addition to Paul Rechsteiner, the two Eastern Swiss historians Stefan Keller and Hans Fässler – also known as a cabaret artist and political activist – are also part of the committee, as is the square designer Pipilotti Rist. It was now time for a renaming, they argued.
The goal of the committee: The Raiffeisenplatz should be renamed as quickly as possible visually with a plaque, but also in the land register. Realistically, this will happen by the end of 2024 at the latest.
The decision rests with the city council
The owner of the Red Square is the political municipality of St. Gallen. Finally, the St. Gallen city council will decide on this renaming, which recently said yes to a postulate that wants to make women more visible in the city.
Before the city council responds to the request, however, it wants to wait for the historical processing, according to the responsible city councilor Markus Buschor.
In the course of the upcoming company anniversary, the Raiffeisenbank is in the process of investigating the history of its founding in Switzerland. Raiffeisen commissioned an independent report, according to Markus Buschor, Head of Planning and Construction. As soon as this is available, the city will comment on a possible renaming of Raiffeisenplatz. In this sense, the city council wants to wait and “carefully consider”.
The wrong way
The committee’s demand has met with criticism, particularly from the SVP of the city of St. Gallen. Renaming the square is not appropriate, says Karin Winter-Dubs, SVP parliamentary group leader in the St. Gallen city parliament. “You can’t erase history, but you can explain it and learn from it,” said Winter-Dubs on request. With a renaming you try to hide what happened and this is the wrong way.