Rostock pulls the ripcord: In a one-time step, the citizens of the Hanseatic city decide to cancel the Federal Horticultural Show in 2025. There were massive problems with the implementation of the ambitious event. Mayor Madsen is under criticism.
The Rostock citizenship has decided to cancel the Federal Garden Show 2025. The committee followed the recommendation of Mayor Claus Ruhe Madsen with a clear majority. This had repeatedly referred to difficulties resulting from the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war. It is the first cancellation in the 70-year history of the Federal Garden Show. The non-party mayor also spoke of mistakes that had been made and insufficient capacity in the city administration.
In 2018, Rostock was awarded the contract for the Federal Garden Show 2025. In the past, more than ten years of preparation time was common. Critics such as the head of the left-wing parliamentary group, Eva-Maria Kröger, described the seven years of preparation as extremely ambitious. At the latest when the consequences of the corona pandemic became clear, the brakes should have been pulled.
Despite the cancellation, Madsen wants urban development projects planned in connection with the event to be implemented without the BUGA. This includes the city harbor including the flood protection, the Warnow Bridge and the new Warnow-Quartier residential area. The Agriculture Minister responsible for the BUGA, Till Backhaus, had announced that there would be a meeting with the city next Monday. The foundations for a "Rostock Plan" are to be laid down. "We have to get into a healing process," he said. Then Madsen would have to report in detail on how the projects should be planned, approved and maintained, the SPD politician demanded.
It had already become clear in the past few months that the BUGA preparations could not be completed in time. Madsen's predecessor, Roland Methling, pushed the project forward during his tenure until 2019. In an interview with the "Ostsee Zeitung" in mid-June, he criticized his successor. The cancellation was long overdue. He finds it regrettable "how carelessly the great opportunity was wasted" to draw attention to Rostock with this event. It makes him sad that the new head of town hall apparently did not develop the same passion for BUGA as he did. In this context, Methling also complained about Madsen's management.
