Less than 5% of Berlin's streets wear women's names - why?

Less than 5% of Berlin's streets wear women's names - why?

The situation varies in the individual districts. In Treptow-Köpenick and Pankow, the proportion of women's names is only 2%. However, there is a higher proportion of 13%in the middle, where numerous renams took place. In the Pankow district, only 9% of the names of people are named, while in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg the proportion of women's names is 7%.

historical context and renaming

In the past ten years, at least 25 streets and squares have been renamed Berlin, with eight decided and not yet implemented renams and another eight have been applied for. Experts have growing awareness of the need to rename streets that are named by people with an anti-democratic background. Straßeichärärk Berlin e.V. emphasizes that the names of the streets in the city reflect a patriarchal and colonial-racist culture of remembrance, whereby only about 10% of the streets named after women are.

Around nine streets are devoted to non-white people due to their namesake. The demand for more representation for women and a feminist and decolonial culture of remembrance becomes increasingly loud. It is essential that Berlin district offices deal with the problematic contexts of street names and support renaming processes.

examples and initiatives

Districts such as Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg strive to honor women as namesake in the future until at least 50% of the streets are named after women. One example is the renaming of a part of Manteuffelstrasse to Audre-Lorde-Straße, in honor of the African-American poet and civil rights activist. A women's and peace activist also recognizes the Freia-Eisner-Straße in Tempelhof-Schönberg.

suggestions for renaming problematic monuments are also loud. The Berlin Greens have asked to remove the monument to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn in Neukölln due to his nationalist and anti -feminist attitude and instead suggest an honor for Rosl Persson, a pioneer in women's sports. The daily mirror reports that the number of roads named after women is between 3 and 13 percent, which makes it clear that there is a need for action.