Host Nation Update, April 30, 2024
May festivals on the Filder and Boeblingen district – Red Wurst, beer and music
Also known as “Hocketse” (Swabian slang “hocken” means to sit down on a beer bench and basically to stay put, to chat with your neighbor, and only to get up to get more food or beer; it’s considered not very social to just eat and leave the “Hocketse.”)
May is coming and, as always, the beginning of the merry month is celebrated in many places – including here in the region. One visible sign is the maypole.
Leinfelden-Echterdingen joins in on Tuesday, April 30
In Plattenhardt, people wait a few days longer to put up the maypole. It starts at 3 p.m. on the last day in April – including a social get-together. The “Frei-Weg” Plattenhardt music club will be playing and there will be grilled sausages.
Echterdingen From 4 p.m., the Paulaner on Kirchplatz in Echterdingen invites you to the Maypole Hocketse and dancing into May. The Echterdingen musicians and the marching band will entertain in the afternoon and early evening. From 8 p.m., the party continues in the restaurant with a DJ.
Waldenbuch The maypole will be put up at 4.30 pm opposite the Auch-Areal. The Bistro am Kreisel (traffic circle Stuttgarter Straße/Gartenstraße) will be serving food and drinks from 4 pm and on May 1st from 10 am.
Steinenbronn The event starts at 5 pm on the village square. The local music association will provide music and refreshments, and the maypole will be put up by the local heritage association at around 6 pm. The patron of the event is the mayor, Ronny Habakuk.
Musberg The tree will be put up at the church square at 6 pm. Half an hour earlier, at 5.30 pm, the music society will start playing. Food and drinks will also be available from this time on.
May “Hocketse” of the Handball club “HSG” Böblingen Sindelfingen
The handball players of HSG Böblingen Sindelfingen invite you to the Hocketse on May 1st in and around the Sindelfingen Sommerhofenhalle for a cozy stay.
In addition to non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, there will also be delicious food from the barbecue. Drinks can be purchased from 10:30 a.m., barbecued food is available from noon. HSG Böblingen is looking forward to a nice holiday with many visitors.
Address: Sommerhofenhalle | Hohenzollernstraße 53, 71067 Sindelfingen. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, 29 April)
Marcel Wolf new district mayor in Stuttgart Vaihingen
When Marcel Wolf officially becomes Vaihingen’s new district mayor on May 1, the 30-year-old will immediately get down to dynamic work. The city festival from July 5 to 7 in Vaihingen needs to be planned. The premises in the district town hall need to be redistributed after the job center moves out. And then there are a whole series of projects that Wolf, who most recently worked as a political advisor for the CDU in Stuttgart City Hall and sat on the district advisory council in Stuttgart-West, has to familiarize himself with intensively. The 30-year-old is also particularly interested in the question of how the Vaihinger Markt area can be revitalized. The new district leader is of the opinion that revitalization cannot be achieved through retail alone; it also needs restaurants, cultural offerings, and the opportunity for civic involvement. In addition, the opportunity must be seen to combine revitalization with the Stuttgart city council’s goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2035. Wolf also describes the promotion of the youth council as a “matter close to his heart”. This is how he himself found his way into politics. As a child, he delivered leaflets in the west of Stuttgart and got to know a green district council. “Every Saturday, I had very long and intensive discussions with him about local issues,” he recalls, and then he encouraged him to run for the youth council, which he did. Although Wolf has “huge respect” for his new task, he knows that he comes “with a lot of experience” and has similarities with Kai Jehle-Mungenast, his predecessor in office. He cannot yet say whether he, like Kai will take a different path after a few years or remain loyal to Vaihingen. But one thing is certain: the projects in Vaihingen are medium to long-term, and a successful conclusion is important to him. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, April 30)
After incident on the festival grounds – person carrying a Machete
No body searches at the Stuttgart Fruehlingsfest
On Saturday evening, a 19-year-old man got into an argument with several people at the Stuttgart Festival. In the course of the argument, he pulled a machete out of his waistband. Video footage shows the man waving the stabbing weapon around and repeatedly hitting it on the ground, causing sparks to fly.
The 19-year-old is being investigated for violating the Weapons Act and suspected of making threats. According to initial findings, however, he apparently did not point the machete in the direction of visitors and probably did not attack anyone. Nevertheless, the incident caused great unrest and uncertainty at the Cannstatter Wasen. On Monday, those responsible at the in.Stuttgart event company discussed with the authorities whether and to what extent the security concept needs to be adapted.
“After coordinating with the police, we can say that the security concept and the camera system at the spring festival worked”, says in.Stuttgart spokesperson Stefanie Hirrle. “Less than a minute passed between the time the police officers from the video surveillance system noticed the incident and the provisional arrest of the man with the machete on the fairground. We take the incident very seriously and are glad that no one was injured.” The man’s motive is still unclear. “However, we assume that the man did not come onto the fest grounds to hurt someone, but pulled out the weapon in the middle of an argument with other visitors,” says Hirrle.
The security concept has proven itself over the years and is regularly scrutinized, corrected and adapted. “Currently, security staff carry out visual and bag checks at the entrance. The police are also present. Everyone is currently being made more aware and is paying particular attention to the areas of the festival site where tensions occasionally arise. We remain in close coordination with the police and security service.” (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, April 30, 2024)