The decision against further municipal subsidies for the Ball des Sports in Wiesbaden's RMCC congress center had already been made by the then emerging coalition of Greens, SPD, Volt and Left during the budget deliberations last year.

With the failure of a rescue attempt for the major event in the magistrate, the last hopes of ball fans were dashed just a few weeks ago.

At the time, the four-party alliance also rejected the alternative financing proposal from Mayor Oliver Franz (CDU) – despite the support of Mayor Gert-Uwe Mende (SPD).

This was actually the last mass for the ball.

Nevertheless, the four opposition factions did not miss the opportunity to make the ball the main topic of the most recent city council meeting.

It was also a test

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus district and for Wiesbaden.

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Anyone on the opposition bench who actually hoped for a rethink at the very last minute - Sporthilfe gave Wiesbaden until April 1st - was disappointed.

The alliance factions did not wobble during the vote.

The Sports Ball will have to look for a new location if it considers municipal subsidies to be indispensable.

CDU sees millions in advertising value

The mayor also spoke up in the escalating debate.

He doesn't just want to duck away, said Mende.

The venue for the ball is solely a matter for Sporthilfe, not the city.

Mende accepted the CDU's argument that Wiesbaden was losing a lot of money through so-called indirect profitability only to a limited extent.

This income could perhaps be offset by other events at the RMCC.

He is concerned that the ball, as a flagship event, will bring many "decision-makers" from large companies to the city, who could be convinced of Wiesbaden's performance.

From Mende's point of view, "the ball was good for the city".

In the debate, Daniela Georgi (CDU) not only cited Mende as the advocate of the ball, but also other former mayors such as Sven Gerich (SPD).

The alliance acts against the majority of citizens and against the interests of the city.

The ball brings Wiesbaden more money than it costs.

An argument that her parliamentary colleague Reinhard Völker took up.

He calculated that the Wiesbaden ball would bring an added value of around six million euros.

The "media" advertising value alone can be estimated at two million euros.

The renunciation of the ball is a "sacrifice" on the altar of the coalition.

Low yield for the athletes

On the other hand, SPD faction leader Hendrik Schmehl made a different calculation.

He said that in view of the costs and the amount of only 750,000 euros that the ball generates with its 1800 guests and distributes among the athletes, it is "no longer up to date".

According to his parliamentary colleague Michael David, the study on the indirect financial profitability of the ball was commissioned by Sporthilfe: "A rogue who thinks badly about it." The alliance wants to use the available funds to help those who are more dependent on support from the city be.

Support for the opponents of the ball subsidies came from the AfD, whose spokesman Roman Bausch spoke of a "figurehead with a gold rim" that should be financially self-supporting.

Gesine Bonnet (The Greens) also raised this demand.

She spoke of a disproportionately low yield for the athletes.

It would be desirable for Sporthilfe to rethink its concept.

The Greens did not generally reject the ball like the other majority factions, but it had to reinvent itself and acquire more sponsors.

Achim Sprengard (Volt) also confirmed that there should no longer be any support from the city.

The left calls for higher ticket prices

Brigitte Forssbohm (Die Linke) fundamentally questioned the advertising effect for Wiesbaden when "the rich and beautiful come 'jetted' and the majority don't even spend the night here".

The RMCC is already in deficit without the city subsidizing individual events with large sums.

If every guest spends 200 euros more for an entrance ticket, the problem is solved.

The opposition saw things differently.

Matthias Linz (FDP) said that Europe's largest benefit gala "cannot be done with C-celebrities in the village community center with pea soup".

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Diers even accused the SPD of electoral fraud because they had not announced such a change of course in their election program.

How high the waves were was shown by a long break in the meeting, in which the council of elders discussed whether Ingo von Seemen (left) had been insulted by Manuel Köhler (CDU) with a comparison to the GDR.

FDP leader Diers responded with a "personal statement" to Lukas Haker's accusation of being "economic extremist".

This wording will probably occupy the Council of Elders again.

In the end, all appeals to the new political majority died out.

The Ball des Sports Wiesbaden is no longer worth a cent.