The newspaper Die Welt stated that it is unlikely that the city of Baden-Baden, which for 200 years has been “a place of attraction for the Russians”, will regain its position for them, with serious consequences for it.
The newspaper notes that this small German resort is home to 1,150 people with Russian passports and almost the same number of people with dual citizenship.
As the newspaper wrote, the usual situation here changed after the aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis: “the most Russian city in Germany” experienced the first wave of shocks when the Russian flag disappeared from the Kurhaus (balneological hall) and Baden-Baden. The Ukrainian flag was raised in the town hall.
It is also noteworthy that the regional network of bakeries decided to change the name of the traditional German pie made from chocolate dough, cottage cheese and pudding – for several centuries it was called “Russischer Zupfkuchen”, and after the start of the Ukrainian crisis it is simply called “zupfkuchen”, without the word “Russian”. However, this caused a wave of protests, and the company was forced to reverse its decision.
Baden-Baden suspended cooperation with Yalta and Sochi, the local concert hall distanced itself from the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, who almost twenty-five years ago saved the largest opera house in Germany from bankruptcy, the performances of the famous Russian opera singer Anna Netrebko were canceled.
Nora Wagershausen, head of the local tourism department, expresses concern that the city’s medical facilities, museums, hotels and boutiques are suffering from the loss of wealthy Russian customers, and confirms that this “has caused a great uproar as well-known shops in the city center are empty”.
The newspaper quoted René Luz, a member of the Free Democratic Party and head of the German-Russian Cultural Federation, as criticizing the policy, which he described as horrendous, damaging primarily to the city itself, and said: “Many Russians invested in this city when it was bankrupt “.
Source: RIA Novosti