Hotel turns down Scientology
A Steglitz hotel will not tolerate a Scientology exhibition in
Berlin, Germany
The invitations to the Best Western Hotel Steglitz
International had already been sent out, but now the
worldwide sect business must change the address for its
"What is Scientology?" exhibition. The hotel on Albrecht
Street in Steglitz, where the exhibition was supposed to
have opened today, cancelled Scientology's rental contract
without notice.
"No public meetings had been arranged with us," the
business manager of the hotel, Klaus-Volker Stolle,
founded the cancellation yesterday. He said the 500,000
leaflets in which the Scientologists have been advertising
for their exhibit in recent days violate their contract with the
hotel.
Key to the decision, though, was said to have been that
after the business contract with the Scientologists became
known, other customers announced there would be
consequences. One of the customers was the federal press
office, which rented rooms from the hotel for visiting
groups from the federal house of representatives. It was
said that the press office had written a letter which
announced that it would reconsider its business relations
with the hotel. "From a commercial point of view, perhaps
the contract was hurting us more," said hotel business
manager Stolle. He terminated the contract.
Scientology sees the behavior of the federal press office as
"incredible and unprecedented official discrimination." The
press office reacted calmly to the accusation. "We are free
in making our selection of a hotel," said a spokeswoman.
Instead of the hotel in which the Scientologists arranged a
congress three years ago, the exhibition will be opened in
private spaces on Dueppel Street in Steglitz. taz
---------------
Scientology obstructed
Hotel terminates agreement under pressure from federal press office
Berlin, Germany
wik
Under pressure from the Press and Information Office of
the federal government, the Hotel Best Western Steglitz
International has terminated an agreement with the
"Scientology Church" for spaces for an exhibition. The
sect, which is under surveillance by Constitutional Security,
had wanted to open their "What is Scientology?" exhibition
today in the hotel. Their reservations, as verified by
Klaus-Volker Stoller, the hotel's business manager, were
cancelled. Stolle gave his reason as being that it had been
assumed that Scientology had wanted to organize a closed
seminar, not a public arrangement. Cancelling the
reservations, though, started with pressure from the Press
Office.
The office was said to have indirectly threatened in a letter
to cancel reservations for visitor groups from the federal
representative assembly for the current and next years. The
press office's letter said that "understandably" one would
expect guests to spend the night in "indubitable hotels."
Otherwise, business relations, it continued, would have to
be reconsidered. According to Stolle, about 3,000 guests
would be affected by a possible cancellation. Scientology
speaker Georg Stoffel expressed rage at the intervention.
He said that Scientology had never been so clearly
discriminated against before. The exhibition, Stoffel said,
was supposed to be put on in 52 European cities and had
already been presented in four German cities without any
complaint. Scientology wants to file a claim for 200,000
marks in damages against the hotel. The exhibition will be
opened today in private spaces.
------------------
Hotel stops Scientology Exhibition
Berlin, Germany
Steglitz - Once again the Scientology Organization (SO)
in Berlin is embroiled in controversy: the corporation which
presents itself as a religion had originally intended to open
an exhibition in a hotel today, but their name was crossed
off the list due to public pressure.
"We rented Scientology spaces for a meeting assuming a
closed conference. Yet the organization distributed about
500,000 leaflets in 13 districts giving directions to the
exhibition in our hotel. We perceived that our good
reputation was in danger and terminated agreement," said
Klaus-Volker Stolle, manager of the hotel in question in
Steglitz. Also, the Press and Information Office of the
federal administration had indicated in a letter to the hotel
that Parliament's travel agency would cancel bookings for
2000 and 2001 if the business relations of the hotel with
Scientology were not clarified. Because of that, the
controversial psycho-group is now demanding 200,000
marks from the Office - for damages. Besides that,
representatives of various political parties had got wind of
the plans and protested. "We need neither the
Scientologists nor their activities in our city," said Cerstin
Richter-Kotowski, vice chief of the CDU faction in the
House of Representatives. The controversial, commercially
oriented group has already been under surveillance by
Constitutional Security; the Berlin sect report says, "The
SO's image of society stands in unmistakable tension to our
basic, liberal, democratic system." Now Scientology will
be opening its show today at 1 p.m. in private spaces at 30
Dueppel Street in Steglitz.
-------------
Unofficial translations of German media, For non-commercial use only
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its spaces after protests
April 18, 2000
taz Berlin
April 18, 2000
Tagesspiegel Online-Dienste GmbH
Government press office had protested
Scientology intends to sue
April 18, 2000
Berliner Kurier
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