Even very late attempts to break away from a particular past need to be celebrated.
But that's not easy.
If a city deletes Adolf Hitler from its list of honorary citizens two generations after the end of the war, then that may be well considered, but it is not a heroic act. Beck-Verlag, by far the most powerful of its kind, now wants to rename its most important works, the ones that are still Bear the names of Nazi lawyers.
The demand for this is just as old as the previous Beck's adherence to its bestsellers.
So now the "Schönfelder" and "Palandt" familiar to every student should leave their names, and the commentary on the Basic Law will have to do without "Maunz", who was anonymously active in legal advice for right-wing extremist circles long after the war.
Public pressure also played a role
Why?
The name Palandt, it is now said, should "remain visible so far as a reminder of the darkest chapter of German legal history".
A “monument” should not be set for him.
But as right as it is, history cannot be undone - a larger monument is hardly conceivable.
The main reason for the renaming, which was immediately welcomed by justice ministers, is also likely to be the public pressure, which can be detrimental to business.
That fits: The publisher has finally become a brand because in its long history it has always adapted well to the prevailing political weather conditions.