alias Prinz Chaos II.
Be as different as you possibly can!
From May 31, 2012, to June 3, 2012, the Paradise Bird Festival took place at the small castle Weitersroda, near the county town of Hildburghausen. Today, this singer-songwriter gathering is a fixed institution in southern Thuringia. However, this wasn’t always the case: From 2008 to 2012, local Nazis attempted to prevent this event. The brown wolves didn’t limit themselves to verbal attacks on social media but, as in previous years, they took action again – setting fire to a participating musician’s car in the castle courtyard. Subsequently, singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker called for solidarity with the organizers of the Paradise Bird Festival. Heinz Michael Vilsmeier heeded Konstantin Wecker’s appeal and went to Weitersroda to join the Paradise Birds, where he conducted the following interview with Florian Kirner, also known as Prince Chaos II.
Table of Contents
A Conversation About Wolves in May
We are many different people in every situation, in every phase of life.
The feeling of power turns one into an asshole.
I immediately got stomach cramps.
There was a struggle with latent homophobia.
I have fully blossomed.
Power is always there!
Power can also be very gentle.
Chaos is the program!
I fell into a depression in front of the public.
There are performance situations that are wonderful.
I tend to produce crises.
I can cry extremely well.
I try to have a learning relationship with criticism.
I learn a lot from my trees.
“Be as different as you possibly can!”
Shameful, as far as the treatment of me is concerned.
This castle project is extremely important to me.
No one will change the other.
For me, Degenhard is the Big Franconian (“Großfränzchen”).
Wecker saw an artistic son in me.
Simon and Jan have taught our audience to listen.
II think I’m quite unique.
Degenhardt’s song detonates a second time.
Paradise Bird instead of Wandering Bird
The saddest song I’ve ever written.
People have to accept that culture costs money.
I am not a pacifist.
A strong, combative gay identity.
One week after the Paradiesvogelfest via Skype …
This is a kind of cultural battle.
Enemy image machines have been built.
Read here an excerpt from the conversation with Florian Kirner,
aka Prince Chaos II:
Prince Chaos II: We are in the midst of an epic conflict. This is a kind of cultural battle that has arisen here. At its center, actually – and absurdly – lies the issue of my sexual orientation, or at least it has been shifted to that. – We are dealing with a virulent and militant homophobia. – This mixes with village conflicts and issues from the last four and a half years, which probably no one who tries to develop a castle on their own initiative would escape, having been used for decades during the GDR times and lying relatively fallow for 20 years after the reunification. – It is a very dangerous situation, and it’s a bit like in [the play] „The Fire Raisers,“ where after an arson attack on a car in the castle courtyard and after an assault and actual death threats, we are now being pilloried because we allegedly claim that the whole village consists of Nazis. – Of course, that’s not what we do! – But to stand up and say that there are no Nazis here in this village is simply unbearable blindness by people who obviously don’t want to see it. You have to ask them in what way they support actions that are directed against the residents of this castle.
HMV: On the village website, weitersroda.de, it headlines: “Weitersroda dominated by Chaos…”. There, it is stated that the village feels unjustifiably thrust into the center of public attention and that this is due to quarrels with Prince Chaos. It also criticizes the mayor of Hildburghausen, who, allegedly without justification, accuses Weitersroda youth of right-wing extremist sentiments. – What can you say about that?
Prince Chaos II: The document you’re referring to is not a statement from the village but from the district council, which positions itself in a way that is, in my opinion, scandalous and despicable. – There is a right-wing structure in this village, that is a fact, in my view. And the vast majority of the residents should open their eyes and look at what is actually going on, including, unfortunately, not just among the youth.
Read the complete interview with Florian Kirner as an e-book here.
