“Modern culture of remembrance” in the District of Düren: “Flower ban”, “dance theater” and the Geneva Conventions (Published on 22/05/2025)
The strange measures initiated by the District of Düren under district administrator Wolfgang Spelthahn (CDU) – who is currently suspended due to allegations of corruption – under the title of an (allegedly) “modern culture of remembrance” have repeatedly been the subject of this blog.
I. Dealing with war victims’ graves in the District of Düren: From “flower ban” to “dance theater”
In addition to the various events specifically relating to the commemoration of Julius Erasmus, the so-called “flower ban”, i.e. the ban on the laying of “signs of mourning”, in particular flowers and candles, at the military cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack by sec. 4 cipher 4. a) of the cemetery rules of 13/09/2022, which the Administrative Court Aachen and the Higher Administrative Court of Northrhine-Westfalia as well as the State Constitutional Court of Northrhine-Westfalia consider to be lawful. In addition, the so-called “dance theater” organized by the District of Düren and the district association of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. on the occasion of Remembrance Day (“Volkstrauertag”) 2023 at the military cemetery in Vossenack, in the context of which pupils from the neighboring Franziskus-Gymnasium were dancing to loud music in the dark on stages installed directly above the graves under colorful lighting of the facility, while numerous spectators were trampling across the graves.
II. The Geneva Conventions and the protection of war victims’ graves
What has obviously not been considered are the so-called Geneva Conventions of 12/08/1949, together with their additional protocols.
In summary, it can be said that these intergovernmental Agreement serve to establish respect for certain fundamental standards of humanity and human dignity, even in war, which primarily concern the protection of persons who are not or no longer taking part in hostilities. The Geneva Conventions and the provisions contained therein are a fundamental component of so-called “international humanitarian law”, which aims to ensure the best possible protection of people, buildings and infrastructure as well as the natural environment from the effects of hostilities in the event of armed conflict.
The Geneva Conventions also cover the treatment of the graves of war victims.
The “Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I)” of 08/06/1977 regulates the handling of the mortal remains of persons killed in war. Art. 34(1) of this protocol reads (emphasis added):
“The remains of persons who have died for reasons related to occupation or in detention resulting from occupation or hostilities and those of persons not nationals of the country in which they have died as a result of hostilities shall be respected, and the gravesites of all such persons shall be respected, maintained and marked as provided for in Article 130 of the Fourth Convention, where their remains or gravesites would not receive more favourable consideration under the Conventions and this Protocol.”
The provision is understood as an international legal basis for the establishment, maintenance and handling of military cemeteries and the graves of war victims.
The Federal Republic of Germany ratified the Geneva Conventions in 1954 and Protocol I in 1991; these are applicable laws. It should be noted that Article 25 of the German Grundgesetz integrates “the general rules of international law” into federal law and gives them precedence over national laws.
III. “Flower ban” and “dance theater” as a violation of the Geneva Conventions?
In addition to fundamental ethical and moral considerations, in particular those concerning the guarantee of human dignity after death, this background also raises the question of whether state measures such as the “flower ban” or the “dance theater” of the District of Düren are really a respectful treatment of the graves of war victims, as prescribed by the Geneva Conventions as applicable law in the Federal Republic of Germany. The District of Düren is probably not aware of this issue, it will have to be clarified.
(Head picture: Grave of three unknown German soldiers
at the German military cemetery Hürtgen, August 2022)
Further articles on the topic “‘Modern culture of remembrance’ in the District of Düren”:
- The removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (03/10/2021)
- Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge NRW on the removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (17/06/2022)
- News on the removal of the information board on Julius Erasmus from the Vossenack military cemetery in 2021 (23/08/2022)
- The “representative for the care of the war grave sites Vossenack and Hürtgen as places of a democratic culture of remembrance and commemoration” (“Beauftragter für die Betreuung der Kriegsgräberstätten Vossenack und Hürtgen als Orte einer demokratischen Erinnerungs- und Gedenkkultur”) (16/11/2022)
- The ban on laying flowers and candles at the military cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack (12/02/2023)
- Administrative Court Aachen denies grant of a preliminary order against the District of Düren “flower ban”, appeal to the Higher Administrative Court (23/03/2023)
- Laying of wreaths by the Administrator of the District of Düren at the Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack on Remembrance Day 2022 – or: Quod licet iovi, non licet bovi?(21/04/2023)
- District of Düren denies “flower ban” on Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest to press and media (13/05/2023)
- “Flower ban” of the District of Düren on the Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest: Higher Administrative Court of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia rejects the appeal against the denial of urgent legal protection (03/07/2023)
- Administration out of control – District now also bans photos of the fallen in uniform at Military Cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest (18/08/2023)
- The “permanent exhibition” on the Hürtgen war cemetery (20/12/2023)
- The removal of the memorial stone for Julius Erasmus by the District in September 2022 (06/02/2024)
- The distortion of remembrance on the national Remembrance Day (“Volkstrauertag”) (21/04/2024)
- The “Dance Theater” over the graves of the war dead at the military cemetery in Vossenack on the occasion of Remembrance Day (“Volkstrauertag”) 2023 (19/08/2024)
- The statement of the President of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. on the “Dance Theater” at the military cemetery in Vossenack on the occasion of Remembrance Day 2023 – a “fact check” (13/11/2024)
- Information from the District administration on “incidents with a right-wing extremist background” at the military cemeteries in Hürtgen and Vossenack and on “violations” of the cemetery rules (13/03/2025)
- The “flower ban” by the District of Düren on the German military cemeteries in Hürtgen Forest before the State Constitutional Court of Northrhine-Westfalia (30/04/2025)
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