German_Scn_News <german_scn_news@hotmail.com>
Steglitz, Germany
Despite public protests, the first "What is Scientology?"
exhibition has been in Berlin since Wednesday. While the
public pressure could at first prevent the religious
community from making a public presentation in the "Best
Western" Steglitz Hotel, the organization which is under
surveillance by Constitutional Security quickly found an
alternative location. A private lessor made spaces available
on short notice at 30 Dueppel Street in Steglitz.
The federal press office is said to have lodged a protest at
the Best Western Hotel. It allegedly threatened to cancel
all visitor groups from the parliamentary representatives for
this and the coming years in the event that the hotel
accepted the exhibition in its spaces. Scientology
spokesman Georg Stoffel described that as "duress" and
made chastising remarks saying that these kind of problems
would only happen in Berlin. He said the exhibition had
already travelled through five German cities and was
supposed to visit 52 European cities this year. The hotel's
business manager, Klaus-Volker Stolle, however, believes
he was deceived by the Scientologists because they had
only ever mentioned a closed conference. He said he did
not want to be used in their recruitment campaign. Now
Scientology is suing for 250,000 marks in damages.
The people of Berlin should to go the exhibition to form
their own picture of what was really behind the
controversy, said the Scientologists' invitation. The group
itself claimed that it said what Scientology was at the
exhibition's opening: that it fought for a better life in hard
times, a life "without mental illness and without cancer or
other illnesses."
In the experts' judgment, the capitol city is coming more
into the sights of international sects. The sect commissioner
of the Evangelical State Church, Thomas Gandow,
estimates that there are 10,000 people in Berlin organized
into 500 sect-like groups.
MCM
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The Traveling Scientology Show in Steglitz
Wed, 19 Apr 2000 16:49:25 -0400
April 19, 2000
Die Welt
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