A good month after the decision to ban the rainbow flag at Neubrandenburg train station, 25 Neubrandenburg city representatives are launching a counter-initiative. In a draft resolution for the next meeting of the city council on November 13th, which is available to Nordkurier, the councilors propose that the committee commit to the rainbow flag as “an international symbol of diversity, tolerance and cosmopolitanism”.
“Visibility of cosmopolitanism, tolerance, diversity”
Against this background, the city representatives want to instruct the city administration by resolution to develop measures to promote an “appropriate and lasting visibility of cosmopolitanism, tolerance and diversity” in city society and to submit proposals by May 21, 2025. Furthermore, the city council should condemn any exclusion and discrimination against minorities.
The joint draft is signed by eight members of the CDUplus faction, seven representatives of the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW)/Citizens for Neubrandenburg (BfN) faction, although the two BfN members are not there, and seven members of the SPD/Greens faction and the three non-attached members of the Left.
Neubrandenburg hit the headlines after unknown people stole the rainbow flag, which flew on the station forecourt next to city and university flags, several times in recent months and in two cases replaced it with a swastika and Nazi flag.
Finally, on October 9th, the city council decided by a majority at the request of the “Stable Citizens of Neubrandenburg” (SBNB), among other things to prevent crimes, to no longer fly the rainbow flag at the train station. Almost a week later, the applicant Tim Großmüller partially backed away from the successful decision.
In addition to the only SBNB city representative, the AfD and Project NB factions as well as individual members of the BSW/BfN faction voted for the motion, which received 15 yes votes. Eleven no votes came from the SPD, the Greens and the Left and individual members of the CDUplus faction. There were eight abstentions in the 43-member city council.
One day after the decision, Mayor Silvio Witt (independent) announced his early resignation from office on May 31, 2025. For him, however, the flag decision was, in his own words, “at the end of a long chain of events” that led him to resign from the office he has held since 2015. The openly gay local politician cited constant insults on social media and insults from city representatives as reasons. One Online-Petition So far, over 41,000 drawings have been made for the re-hanging of the rainbow flag in Neubrandenburg.
