Press Release, May 20, 2026
Disinvitation of Arne Semsrott: AfD Cultural Policy Driven by Fear of the AfD
PEN Berlin protests the disinvitation of Arne Semsrott, author and head of the platform FragDenStaat, from a planned reading at the Magdeburg City Library.
Earlier this year, Semsrott appeared at Literaturhaus Magdeburg — not a municipal institution, but one funded by the city — after which the AfD faction in the Magdeburg city council accused the city administration of a “serious violation of political neutrality.” The terse statement issued by the city administration suggests that the cancellation of the reading scheduled for June 5 at the city library was the city’s response to this incident.
“This is an act of cowardice,” says PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel. “And whoever made this decision: the political responsibility lies with Mayor Simone Borris. It is her duty to defend the autonomy of culture against pressure from anyone whatsoever.”
PEN Berlin remains firmly committed to this principle. Just as we protested the disinvitation of our founding member Michel Friedman in Klütz and the disinvitation of bookseller Susanne Dagen in Landau, we now oppose the disinvitation of Arne Semsrott in Magdeburg. “The autonomy of culture applies at all times. And freedom is always the freedom of the one being disinvited,” says Yücel.
In this case, the Moritzhof cultural center stepped in, allowing Arne Semsrott to read from his book Counterpower in Magdeburg on the originally scheduled date. That is commendable, but not reassuring. It does nothing to change the failure of those politically responsible, nor can this solution simply be transferred to smaller towns. “As a rule, there are no cultural institutions there that operate completely independently from local administrations. It reflects poorly on the state capital Magdeburg when political leaders, out of fear of the AfD, effectively adopt the AfD’s own cultural policy,” says Yücel.
Incidentally, shortly before the state elections, the authors’ association PEN Berlin itself will travel to Saxony-Anhalt with its discussion series “Is This Still|Already My Country?”. Earlier this year, in the first part of the series focusing on the topic of homeland, we organized 41 events in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The second part, which will also take us to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, begins on August 10 in the lecture hall of the town hall in Bitterfeld-Wolfen. The Saxony-Anhalt section concludes on August 27 at Moritzhof in Magdeburg. Further dates and participants will be announced shortly.
PEN Berlin. We stand by our word.