Schwerin's tough fight for the title in the capital

Although Rostock is the largest city in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Schwerin wins the vote for the seat of the state capital in October 1990. A plus point:the view of a plenary hall in the castle.

by Christian Kahlstorff

40 votes for Schwerin, 25 for Rostock, one abstention - with this result, on October 27, 1990, almost two weeks after the first state election, the vote of the state parliament members on the future capital of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ended. Because the clear vote was preceded by a month-long struggle between the two cities.

World Champion? monetary union? Capital dispute!

So it wasn't the soccer World Cup or the monetary union that dominated the headlines in newly founded Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the summer of 1990, but rather the tug of war between Rostock and Schwerin. In the beginning, there was much to be said for the Hanseatic city of Rostock. It was by no means a coincidence that Schwerin won the race.

Rostock throws down the gauntlet

An important preliminary decision was made on May 22nd. During the regional committee of the three northern districts in Rostock-Warnemünde, Rostock surprisingly applied as the new capital. With a study by the local university in their luggage, the people of Rostock called on the assembly to hold a referendum for the new state capital. As recently as January, Rostock had positioned itself as a free and Hanseatic city - complete independence following the example of Bremen seemed to be desirable.

Not too much direct democracy allowed

A newspaper article from "NNN" reported on emotional discussions in Warnemünde. Representatives from Schwerin blocked the vote by leaving the hall with loud protests. In view of the population of both cities (Rostock around 250,000, Schwerin 127,000), a decision in favor of the Hanseatic city would probably have been programmed.

Georg Diederich:Pulling the strings for Schwerin

That's what the country's MPs had to decide. And Schwerin already had an influential supporter there:Georg Diederich (CDU) quickly realized that the decision in favor of Rostock would have long-term, negative consequences for Schwerin and the west of the country. The government representative for the district of Schwerin had withdrawn from the New Forum at the time of reunification and joined the CDU.

Diederich becomes the "capital maker"

In his autobiographical essay "The Refoundation of the State of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania", Diederich recalls the difficult task. As a business and university location and the largest city in the state, Rostock was therefore the natural first choice. Diederich turned to Neubrandenburg. In several meetings, he convinced his parliamentary colleague Martin Brick to favor Schwerin as the state capital.

Diederich hastily wrote a draft for the brochure "Arguments for choosing the state capital of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania". Diederich wanted to collect points for his plan with numerous historical references to the ducal history of Schwerin as the seat of the dukes and its 800-year tradition. The CDU man also included economic considerations:With its port and university, Rostock already had an economic and educational focus. The city also has good prospects for growth, according to Diederich. For his role, he was later celebrated as a "capital maker" ("SVZ", September 9, 2007).

Bertha Klingberg:The flower woman with 17,000 votes

But a Schwerin veteran may also have had an influence on the decision:while the politicians were collecting arguments and votes behind the scenes, Bertha Klingberg, flower binder and later honorary citizen of Schwerin, put her idea of ​​direct democracy into practice. At the age of 91, she collected 17,000 signatures for her adopted home of Schwerin. Because of this achievement, in 1993 she was the first and only one to receive the ring of honor from the state capital of Schwerin.

Rainer Prachtl:"Schwerin would have had a harder time without the castle"

At the political level, the fight was meanwhile getting tougher:more and more voters were warmed to Schwerin - not least thanks to a visit program by the development staff. These "coffee trips" met with harsh criticism in Rostock, and there was talk of questionable methods. But apparently the view from their possible offices made the vote much easier for the future MPs. "We wanted to give them a view from their offices so that they could say:I want to stay here!" Irmela Grempler from the development staff recalled in an interview with NDR a few years ago. The view from Schwerin Castle was also one of the decisive moments in the long struggle for the country's first President of the State Parliament, Rainer Prachtl (CDU). "Without the castle, Schwerin would have had a much harder time," said Prachtl in the state parliament chronicles of the Schwerin Castle.

From the bone of contention to "Germany's most beautiful parliament building"

Whatever convinced the individual representatives:When they entered the plenary hall in Schwerin Castle on October 27, 1990, they were obviously convinced of their seat in the state parliament. 40 votes for Schwerin, 25 for Rostock, one abstention - and when the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker described the castle as "Germany's most beautiful state parliament seat" during his first visit in December, any dispute among members of parliament and residents of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania should have been forgotten.