30.12.2020 09:17 5.794
“St. Benno” bookstore has to close: Negotiations with the diocese failed
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From Simone Bischof
Dresden – All hopes that were last there are gone: it has been clear since Tuesday that the traditional “St. Benno” bookstore now has to close.
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On Tuesday the employees started packing the boxes. The “St. Benno” bookstore was the first address in Saxony for church literature. © Konrad Wiehl
Frank Richter (60, independent) does not know whether the decision was made before Christmas. The cultural-political spokesman for the SPD in the state parliament was surprised on Tuesday by the decision of the Dresden-Meißen diocese that the Catholic bookstore on Schloßstraße should close.
“This means that an institution in Dresden is dying,” said Richter when asked by TAG24.
And further: “I am shocked and very sad that the closure of the ‘St. Benno’ bookstore at the end of the year is now final and will take place.”
Richter has been campaigning for the diocese to keep the bookstore up and running for months.
The “St. Benno” bookstore was founded in Bautzen in 1925 and moved to Dresden after the Second World War. The readership: primarily Christian, interested in culture, happy to have a chat.
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5300 euro shop rent every month
The team around owner Christiane Königsmann (48) not only sold books, but also always provided, directly and indirectly, social work and pastoral care. © Konrad Wiehl
“That was a lively bookstore, people not only bought books here, but it was a place of encounters marked by Christian joie de vivre and faith.
In spite of all the personal difficulties that not only I had with the institution of the church, in the Benno bookstore I always found open ears, friendly service and an alert mind.
Also, where can you buy a Bible or a hymn book now? You can’t get that anywhere else, “said the politician.
In his opinion, the store is now falling victim to “ostensibly and largely financially dominated considerations.”
In plain language: The church demands a rent that is far too high. And that is lush at 5300 euros (TAG24 reported)!
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Frank Richter (60, independent) campaigned for the Dresden-Meißen diocese to maintain the “St. Benno” bookstore. © Eric Münch
Employee Konrad Wiehl sorts books for the moving boxes. © Konrad Wiehl
The “St. Benno” bookstore survived two distinctly anti-church periods of repression because the owner and reader were loyal to it. Now it has to close because of the high rental price. © Konrad Wiehl
“I cannot understand the decision of those responsible in the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen. I wish the owner and the employees who now have to reorient themselves or become unemployed that they hold on to their love of books and their commitment despite the bitter cut for Christian education and that they find a new place to work and live, “said Richter.
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Cover photo: Konrad Wiehl (2)
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