Ellerstrasse in the capital of North Rhine – Westphalia is now marked with two signs at once – in German “Ellerstraße” and in Arabic “شارع إلَرْ”.
This street is located in the Oberbilk district, which is home to families with Maghreb roots. The name in Arabic should be a reflection of the diversity in this quarter of Düsseldorf. As Green Party politician Samy Charchira, who is in charge of integration issues, stressed, the plaque is another symbol of solidarity. According to him, “the more people identify with their area, the more social responsibility they can and will take on.”
Why in Arabic?
More than 15 thousand people with only Moroccan roots live today in Düsseldorf. Many came to Germany in the 1960s when the country urgently needed specialists and workers to rebuild the economy. Most settled in the Oberbilk area.
As the mayor of the district, Dietmar Wolf, commented to the German media, “the people who live there, together with us, rebuilt our country. For this they deserve respect.” Therefore, the German politician welcomes the new sign in Arabic, which has been placed in addition to the sign with the name of the street in German. According to local politicians, of course, not everyone supported this decision, but the majority voted in favor.
There is a Japanese sign in Düsseldorf and there will be an Italian one
This is not the first sign in a foreign language in Düsseldorf. Almost two years ago, in the area of Düsseldorf, which received the symbolic name “little Tokyo”, a sign in Japanese appeared on Immermannstrasse. Düsseldorf has long-standing friendship with Japan.
Reactions on social networks to the appearance of the Arabic name of the street began to spread like lightning. Some consider it a “symbolic gesture”, a “sign of diversity”, an “important step” in the integration policy. Others, on the contrary, spoke out negatively and criticized such an integration policy of the city authorities. Judging by the posts on Facebook, many users even thought it was a fake at first. As the German politician Sami emphasized in response to a question from DW Charchira, “Most of the negative comments are written in racist language. These comments clearly show hostility towards migrants.” The politician strongly condemns such a reaction.
While city residents and social media users are discussing the new sign, the city is preparing the next one. In the district of Gerresheim, in “little Italy”, a sign “Via della Vetreria” – the Italian version of the name of the German street Glashüttenstrasse – will soon appear.