After the Hitler salute was shown several times at the local fair in Ballhausen (Unstrut-Hainich district), a decision has now been made on the future of the mayor. The responsible legal supervisory authority has examined the incident and sees no reason why Steffen Dähnert (CDU) has to resign, according to a spokesman.
The municipal supervisory authority did not publish a more specific justification, as this falls under the mayor’s personal rights. The authority only said that it can be assumed that Dähnert will continue to stand up for the free democratic basic order in the sense of the Basic Law and the state constitution.
Six Hitler salutes at the fair
At the fair in Ballhausen in October 2022, a visitor is said to have shown the Hitler salute six times in a row, while Dähnert is said to have swung the baton. The mayor had distanced himself from this action immediately afterwards, he had not noticed anything about it. First the “Bild“-Newspaper reported on this event.
Dähnert was elected mayor in July 2022. He didn’t even show up at the time. But nearly two-thirds of voters wrote him on their ballot paper. He replaced the long-standing mayor Uwe-Karsten Saalfeld (CDU), who was the only candidate at the time.