The mayor of Tübingen, Boris Palmer, wants to take a break after his controversial statements in Frankfurt am Main. He announced this on Monday in a personal statement that is available to the dpa. Südwestrundfunk (SWR) had previously reported on it. “One thing is clear to me: It can’t go on like this,” the statement said. “I can no longer put up with the recurring storms of outrage from my family, my friends and supporters, the employees in the city administration, the municipal council and the city society as a whole.”
Palmer caused a stir on Friday with a verbal argument with a group in front of a migration conference in Frankfurt am Main. In front of a building at the Goethe University, he had taken a stand on the way in which he used the “N-word”.
When confronted with shouts of “Nazis out,” Palmer told the crowd, “It’s nothing but the Star of David. It’s because I used a word that you guys frame everything else by. If you say the wrong word , you’re a Nazi. Think about it.” The so-called N-word describes a racist term for black people that was used in Germany in the past.
Palmer wrote in his personal statement: “When I feel unfairly attacked and react spontaneously, I fight back in a way that only makes things worse.”
Palmer had been heavily criticized for his statements in Frankfurt am Main. There was a lack of understanding not only among those involved in the city, but also in Baden-Württemberg. Lawyer Rezzo Schlauch has turned his back on Palmer, the Tübingen Greens municipal association has distanced itself, and the group “Vert Realos” – an association of so-called real politicians in the Greens – wants to continue working without Palmer in the future.
