Open House

Interview with Sabine Radtke

An interview with Köthen-born Sabine Radtke, head librarian of the European Library of Homeopathy, a few months before its inauguration.

How should we see the future European Library of Homeopathy?

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Sabine Radtke: As an open house where people can come and go. We are of course a specialised library, but the hospital should in future be an inherent part of Köthen’s cultural life. We would like to work with bookshops, the university-track secondary school Ludwigsgymnasium and the Volkshochschule (adult education centre). I would also like to lure the hospital’s doctors to this building, maybe for a Sunday lecture.

The IBA projects aim to activate the powers of self-healing and to discover hidden potentials. To what extent has this been successful?

Sabine Radtke: I was impressed by the photographic exhibition in the Ludwigstraße. The street had a terrible reputation. I was therefore really surprised to see in the exhibition the different kinds of people who live there and what’s happening behind those bleak exteriors. That’s a street that’s really worth discovering.

What defines Köthen for you?

Sabine Radtke: I feel lucky to be born in a city where Bach was once active. I’m glad that Köthen wasn’t destroyed in the war and that it was renovated with great attention to detail after the German reunification. Köthen has taken the right path: the heavy industry is gone, and we now have a city where we can feel comfortable. There is of course a sense that the city is shrinking. There aren’t enough young people, and many are struggling with existential problems. But I do enjoy living here and I am active in the Bachverein (Bach Society). After all, people get involved so that they continue to feel comfortable in the city. I sometimes have the impression that many locals are unaware of Köthen’s many hidden treasures, which we should and can be proud of. What I would like to see in Köthen is a continuation of the optimistic attitude that I sense when I’m working with the homeopathic doc- tors. It would be good if more locals were open-minded and had the resources to take an interest in culture and development. Maybe the IBA can contribute to that, although there are certainly things that can be done in other fields.

Info: Köthen (Anhalt)

Population
(Municipal Area of 2010)
1989: 36.934
2009: 28.668
2025: 23.030 (Future Prospect)

Municipal Area: 78,42 qkm

IBA-Stadt-Monitor
www.koethen-anhalt.de
IBA-Website of Köthen