The Murder of Walter Lubcke

"I would say it is worth living in our country. You have to stand up for its values. And anyone who does not share those values is free to leave this country at any time, if they disagree."
Walter Lubcke

On 14 October 2015, Walter Lubcke - then regional governor of Kassel - spoke at a public meeting in Lohfelden about a refugee shelter that was about to open. While part of the audience listened attentively, a group of far-right extremists tried to disrupt the event. Lubcke's reply triggered a spiral of hatred across right-wing online forums. Four years later, Walter Lubcke was dead - shot on his own patio.

The perpetrator, Stephan Ernst, had been at the Lohfelden meeting and had been known to the authorities since the 1990s. Between 2015 and 2019 he radicalised steadily and eventually became a murderer - one example of the growing willingness to use violence and commit murder within far-right circles.

Westfälisches Landestheater has developed a production around this political killing, examining the rise of far-right movements in Germany and the threat they pose to democracy - a threat that manifests, among other things, in threats and abuse directed at elected officials.

The production is supported by the Landeszentrale fur politische Bildung NRW, in cooperation with Auslandsgesellschaft.de e.V. Dortmund. Running time: 90 minutes, no interval.