Dispute over music festival: Campino criticizes CDU and AfD in Jamel!

Dispute over music festival: Campino criticizes CDU and AfD in Jamel!

What happened last week in Jamel, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, is causing quite a stir. The “Jamel rocks the Förster” music festival, which has been sending a clear message against right-wing extremism since 2007, is once again at the center of a heated debate. The organizers, the artist couple Birgit and Horst Lohmeyer, refuse to be defeated and pull out all the stops to protest against the increasing hostility.

“Freedom of expression at meetings is important, but it has limits,” emphasizes District Administrator Schomann. He particularly criticizes the defamation and discrediting of constitutional action through proximity to neo-Nazis, as he recently said. Things don't look rosy in the local council either, as there are members like Sven Krüger, who has a criminal record, and Steffen Meinecke, a former NPD member, who want to boycott the festival. Lohmeyer accused the coalition of the CDU, AfD and other right-wing forces of trying to derail the event with these measures.

Artistic support and clear messages

Campino, the singer of “Toten Hosen”, is positioned as a mouthpiece for the creative protest movement. During an appearance, he didn't mince his words: "The values ​​of democracy are at risk if you don't take the aggressive statements from the town hall seriously," he explains. In the meantime, Schomann would like to have Campino's statements examined in order to refute them if necessary Mirror reported.

The festival itself not only celebrates, but also promotes important causes. At the start, the Solbach Freie Prize for civil courage received a special recognition, and the festival has already attracted high visitor numbers in the past with artists such as Alphaville, Die Ärzte and Deichkind. The political content is always in the foreground, not least in order to stand up to locally rooted neo-Nazis. The organizer registered the festival as a political meeting in order to use the space free of charge - but for the first time the municipality of Gägelow is demanding a lease of 8,000 euros for the festival space.

A keen look at the local scene

Jamel's story is marked by emerging right-wing extremism. The community has faced influxes of this concerted movement over the years. The Lohmeyers themselves have been struggling with threats and hostility, including arson attacks, for over 20 years. daily news reports that the region's active engagement with this dark past sends a strong message - the festival is disrupting the local neo-Nazi scene and trying to move the image of Jamel towards a positive change.

“Jamel doesn’t want to be the National Socialist model village,” says Lohmeyer, who is firmly against the district’s new requirements for holding the festival. These restrictions, such as the ban on glass bottles and a higher number of stewards, are intended to make the event safer, but it remains a challenging situation.

Their work will finally be recognized with the Aachen Peace Prize 2025, and it remains to be hoped that the festival will continue to be an anchor for civil courage and a vibrant democracy in Jamel. In this small community with only around 40 residents, the fight against right-wing influence is a Herculean task, and the Lohmeyers show tireless commitment.