An urgent court injunction stopped the planned renaming of Mohrenstraße in central Berlin, postponing a symbolic unveiling scheduled for August 23. The street had been selected to honor Anton Wilhelm Amo, a Black German Enlightenment philosopher who in 1734 became the first Africa-born scholar to receive a European doctorate. The Berlin-Mitte council approved the change in 2020, but residents filed a lawsuit before implementation. In July, the Higher Administrative Court upheld a decision that residents had no legal basis to challenge the renaming and signs were installed. The Berlin Administrative Court cited a pending suit by the citizens' initiative Pro Mohrenstrae and barred the renaming until the case concludes.
Decolonization does not happen by changing a few street names, political scientist and human rights activist Joshua Kwesi Aikins told DW after it was announced on Friday that a central Berlin street will not have its racist name changed after all. The road had been slated to be renamed in honor of Anton Wilhelm Amo, a Black German Enlightenment philosopher, who in 1734 became the first Africa-born scholar to receive a European doctorate. That was in 2020.
At the time, the district council of Berlin-Mitte had approved the renaming, but before it was implemented, residents filed a lawsuit against it. But five years later, in July this year, the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg upheld a decision by the Berlin Administrative Court stating that residents have no basis to take legal action against the name change. The signs had already been installed, and the change was to be officialized through a symbolic unveiling on Saturday, August 23,
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