Stade / Germany (RNC Agency) 28.09.1997

In the city of Stade everything revolves around sausages. The impetus for all this trouble are advertisments used by some pub owners to promote horse sausages in the city on the Elbe. They have been doing this for years, but only some days ago criticism ha s been raised. It is alledged that the signs are used to keep Sinti and Roma out of their pubs. ‘‘This behaviour’’, said Mr. Egon Ohlrogge, chairman of the SPD fraction in the county assembly of Stade,’’is racist, degrading and humiliating’’. Mr. Hans Herz berg, spokesman for about 200 German Sinti and Roma said,’’the horse is a holy animal to us, similar to the cow for indians, our laws do not allow to enter a pub, where horsemeat is offered’’.

Under crossfire is Mr. Gunter Armonat, first senior civil sevant and shareholder of the pub ‘‘HUBERT’S’’.A sign advertising the sale of horsemeat has been seen for long there too. In the newsmagazin ‘‘Der Spiegel’’, Mr. Armonat was cited with the sentence, ’’ when you run a pub you want only certain clients’’.

Mr. Armonat’s remarks were mostly misleading and are generally used gainst foreigners, said SPD politician Mr. Ohlrogge. The senior civil sevant could not understand the uproar. ‘‘I do not see any connection with racism’’. If horsemeat were to be offered t o exclude or to be hostile against a certain ethnic group, he would be sorry and distance himself from it. Also DEHOGA chief in Stade, Mr. Hermann Dede, owner of the hotel-restaurant ‘‘zur stillen Einkehr’’ tried to calm the situation. ‘‘These are single c ases, besides, anybody can put up a sign into his window offering whatsoever. I cannot forbid it!’’

The pub owners in Stade have reacted meanwhile. Most of the signs have disappeared even alledging that there had been threatening calls from Berlin. Only in the pub ‘‘Ausspann’’ one was left on Friday. It is not over however. In the next meeting of the cit y council the horsesausage problem is on the agenda.