Inauguration of HansJochenVogelPlatz

On the anniversary of the death of the former mayor and honorary citizen Dr Hans-Jochen Vogel, who died a year ago, the City of Munich today opened Hans-Jochen-Vogel-Platz, named after him, to the public. The square is located in the Olympic Park and takes up a large part of the previous Coubertinplatz. The former Lord Mayor Dr Hans-Jochen Vogel, who brought the 1972 Olympic Games to Munich, has therefore found his place next to the founder of the Olympic Games in modern times, Pierre de Coubertin. A commemorative plaque now also commemorates Dr Vogel. It traces the numerous stages of his life. Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter: "The Olympic Park is just the right place to commemorate Hans-Jochen Vogel's unique achievements for his country and his city of Munich. Without him as the father of the 1972 Games, Munich would not be the city it is today. The Olympics have given an enormous boost to urban development. With the underground and suburban railway, public transport was moved underground. This is also how the pedestrian zone became a reality. With all of this, Hans-Jochen Vogel laid the foundation for our quality of life today." Dr Hans-Jochen Vogel was Lord Mayor of Munich from 1960 to 1972 and held a number of other senior political offices afterwards: he was Federal Minister for Regional Planning, Building and Urban Development from 1972 to 1974, then Federal Minister of Justice until 1981 and in 1981 Governing Mayor of Berlin. He also led the SPD parliamentary group as chairman from 1983 to 1991 and was party chairman of the SPD from 1987 to 1991, succeeding Willy Brandt. Participants at the event in the Olympic Park included: the widow of the former Lord Mayor, Liselotte Vogel, Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht, former mayor and honorary citizen Christian Ude, Dr Charlotte Knobloch, honorary citizen and President of the Israelite Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, Mayor Verena Dietl, the parliamentary group leaders Anna Hanusch and Dr Florian Roth (both from the parliamentary group Die Grünen - Rosa Liste), Manuel Pretzl (CSU parliamentary group) and Christian Müller (SPD/Volt parliamentary group), Cultural Affairs Officer Anton Biebl as well as former mayor Christine Strobl and former mayor Eckhart Müller-Heydenreich.