You’ll never manage it! – I’ll manage it! – Bet you not? – Bet you can? Agreed, the bet is on!
The artist Ron Williams, 82, and Munich’s former mayor Christian Ude, 76, recently battled like schoolboys as they and their fellow campaigners pondered how to publicize their newly founded association. It is called “Not with us,” like Williams’ latest song, in which he sings against right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and racism.
Ron Williams, an American who has lived in Germany for a long time, suggested that even a popular man like former mayor Ude would not be able to collect 100,000 signatures against the shift to the right in society. Of course he could do it, Ude countered. So now they’re trying it out.
The signature collection campaign starts on Friday at 12 noon, next to the Church of the Holy Spirit on the Viktualienmarkt. Locals and tourists have the opportunity to sign a 500-meter-long roll of paper at various locations in the city center on rain-free days between 12 and 4 p.m. until October 1st. A second roll of the same length will be available at the Seehaus in the English Garden during this time.
A company from Halle is sponsoring the tear- and waterproof paper; the frames for transporting the rolls come from two metalworking shops in Munich. If the paper is stretched out again at the end, the initiators have calculated that the signatures would stretch from the Feldherrnhalle to the Siegestor.
To kick things off on Friday, actress Katerina Jacob will be stopping by the Viktualienmarkt. As the campaign continues, Munich celebrities will encourage passers-by to make a statement with their signatures – against hate and incitement, for a defensive democracy.
Open detailed viewWhoever loses the bet in the end promises a spectacular event: former mayor Christian Ude (l.) and artist Ron Williams. (Photo: Nicht mit uns e. V.)
The challenge that Ude has accepted is extremely ambitious: on average, eight or nine people per minute have to sign on one of the two rolls. A test run last weekend on Marienplatz and Viktualienmarkt encouraged the organizers, says Ude’s daughter Susanne von Lieven-Jell, who has taken over the chairmanship of the association together with the busy social project developer Tobias Irl. Around 3,000 people have already immortalized themselves, reports the photographer. These will of course be included in the overall result.
Ron Williams was one of the first to sign, “I hope I lose,” he says of the bet. The stake is still a secret. Susanne von Lieven-Jell promises “a spectacular finale” in any case – no matter who wins.
