Germany's media commissioner shifts focus to art after court defeat
Potsdam (dpa/bb) — Wolfram Weimer, Germany's independent commissioner for media and culture, has visited the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation in Potsdam. He said he aims to make the institution "more visible as a whole," calling it a "magnificent institution" with "outstanding palaces and parklands."
However, he noted that the foundation's art collections and its expertise in restoration are often underestimated. Weimer pledged to strengthen and raise the profile of this aspect of its work through adequate funding and specialist support. He emphasized that the institution could "count on the continued backing of the federal government and cultural policy makers."
Weimer declines to comment on court ruling
Weimer initially declined to address a recent Berlin administrative court ruling against him. "Today is about art," he said. The court had issued an interim injunction prohibiting the culture commissioner from describing the operators of Berlin's Zur schwankenden Weltkugel (The Wobbling Globe) bookshop as "political extremists."
The ruling marks a temporary legal victory for the bookshop's owners, who had challenged Weimer's remarks in a Die Zeit interview. He had previously refused to issue a cease-and-desist declaration. The commissioner may still appeal the decision before the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg.
The dispute stems from the German Bookshop Prize, after Weimer removed three stores—located in Berlin, Bremen, and Göttingen—from the list of award recipients selected by a jury.
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