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Reading rats rejoice! Müller department store to become library! What a grand triumph of urban development in Weißenfels!Dear citizens of the boom town Weißenfels, rejoice loudly! At last, visionary politicians and administrators under the brilliant leadership of Mayor Martin Papke (CDU) and the tireless state parliament member Elke Simon-Kuch (CDU) have once again proven why they are the undisputed masters of regional economic policy. 
Do you still remember with gratitude last year, when Mayor Martin Papke (CDU) and state parliament member Elke Simon-Kuch (CDU), at taxpayers’ expense, made a special pilgrimage to drugstore king Erwin Müller in order to jointly try to prevent the closure of the department store? A historic moment! The grand result of that trip? Müller “only” wanted to downsize and remain in the first building on the shopping street. A clear victory for skillful negotiation! And then, just a few months later, the next masterpiece: Müller ends up closing completely anyway. On April 25, 2026, the last major department store in the city center shut its doors. In the “boom town” Weißenfels, apparently even a Müller can no longer make it profitable. What a wonderful demonstration of decades of, almost genius-level, economic policy by the CDU, SPD, Greens, and FDP! One simply wants to kneel before so much foresight and success. Müller itself cited the lack of free parking spaces as one reason. But who needs parking spaces when the vision is a car-free, pedestrian-friendly city center without annoying shopping tourists from outside? Urban planners had the brilliant idea of a lively city—without cars, without parking spaces, and consequently also without many customers. And this is exactly the vision they are now consistently bringing to success. But don’t worry, dear residents of Weißenfels! The super-smart minds in the city administration have long since gathered and found the ultimate solution: A library—possibly with a panoramic café—in the heart of the further dying city center! That way, you can enjoy a drink and a slice of cake while admiring the rooftops of crumbling buildings. How romantic! Who wouldn’t dream of that? Yes, exactly. Where one shop after another is closing down, a library is supposed to become the new crowd-puller in times of the internet, Amazon, and online shopping. Oh yes! Absolutely! Such a groundbreaking idea does not come along every day. How many hours of brainstorming and meetings were probably needed to develop this concept? We all know how often we have voluntarily stormed libraries in recent decades. Some of us probably don’t even need a finger to count them, because the number of visits tends toward zero. But hey: maybe Weißenfels will become the pioneer of a global turning point! Cities whose centers have been revitalized thanks to a library? Who doesn’t know the cities that developed into major centers around libraries.Take Alexandria (Egypt, from around the 3rd century BC) as the prime example. The Great Library of Alexandria (part of the Mouseion) made the city the “capital of knowledge.” It was meant to collect all known knowledge in the world (up to 500,000+ scrolls). Scholars such as Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, and Strabo were attracted there. The library was not only a storage place but also a research and teaching center. Alexandria owed a large part of its world fame and appeal to this institution. For centuries, it remained a magnet for the ancient scholarly world. Or Pergamon (Pergamum, today Bergama, Turkey, 3rd–2nd century BC). The Attalid kings developed the city into a magnificent Hellenistic center—with one of the greatest rivals of the Library of Alexandria (approx. 200,000 scrolls). The library was prominently located on the acropolis in the sanctuary of Athena and was central to the city’s identity as a cultural and educational hub. Pergamon benefited enormously from the prestige of the library (including the invention of parchment in response to Alexandria’s papyrus embargo). The city thus became one of the most important intellectual centers of the Hellenistic world. Or Timbuktu (Mali, peak 14th–16th century, Middle Ages). Originally a nomadic camp and trading post on the trans-Saharan routes (gold, salt). It developed through Islamic scholarship and hundreds of private and institutional libraries (including the Sankore University) into one of Africa’s most important centers of knowledge. Up to hundreds of thousands of manuscripts on astronomy, medicine, law, mathematics, etc. The city became famous as “Africa’s Oxford” or the “City of 333 Saints.” Its intellectual reputation attracted scholars from across the Islamic world and further boosted its prosperity. Weißenfels is now supposed to follow these great examples. One can truly only be happy about such urban development. Or should one rather call it urban de-development? Anyway! While the last remaining retailers are gradually disappearing, generous investments are being made for the few reading rats who struggle with modern-day internet. Ten million euros were once planned for a new library building; now everything is being re-planned, rebuilt, and further taxpayer money is being burned. But don’t worry: there will be a feasibility study. And the city council will decide in July. All very professional. Bravo, Mayor Martin Papke (CDU)! Bravo, Ms. Elke Simon-Kuch (CDU)! Bravo, geniuses of the city administration! You are turning Weißenfels into a model city that demonstrates how to successfully dismantle a city with maximum effort and minimal results. Hats off. That is true politics for the people.
Author: AI-Translation - АИИ | |
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