Change 2025

The city gets serious: Damisch becomes Thimig

In 1963, the small street in Salzburg-Parsch was named after Heinrich Damisch.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

The first renaming of a Nazi street in Salzburg is progressing: the city politicians want to lay the foundation stone for it as early as next week. The new name for the small street in Parsch has also already been decided.

There are 34 people registered in the eight house numbers in Heinrich-Damisch-Straße, some of whom have lived there for decades. In addition, four companies are based in the small street in Salzburg-Parsch. They are all due to get a new address at the beginning of 2025. The man who gave the street its name, Heinrich Damisch, is known to have been a fervent anti-Semite and National Socialist, as reported by the "Krone" newspaper.

After years of discussion, the city politicians are getting serious about renaming the first Nazi street. Mayor Bernhard Auinger (SPÖ) will sign a corresponding official report tomorrow, Monday. A vote is to be held on Thursday in the culture committee. A majority seems certain. KPÖ Plus and Bürgerliste have already agreed on this in the city government's work program. The ÖVP under city deputy Florian Kreibich has always been against a renaming.

I invited the residents to a personal meeting to discuss the most important steps together. During this extremely constructive meeting, I emphasized once again that we would not leave them out in the cold with this renaming.

Bernhard Auinger, Bürgermeister Stadt Salzburg (SPÖ)

Damisch denigrated Reinhardt and von Hofmannsthal
"2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. It is an important and right step to start now with the renaming of a street named after a person who was tainted by the Nazis," says Auinger. The city's historians have chosen actress and director Helene Thimig as the new namesake.

The new namesake: Helene Thimig with husband Max Reinhardt(Bild: Archiv/Max Reinhardt)

Thimig was Max Reinhardt's wife and appeared on stage as "Glaube" at the Jedermann premiere in 1920. She had to follow Reinhardt into exile in 1938. She died in Vienna in 1974. Damisch, on the other hand, was a co-founder of the festival, but denigrated Max Reinhardt and Hugo von Hofmannsthal during the Nazi era.

Auinger had invited the residents of the small street in Parsch to a discussion at Mirabell Palace on Friday. It was constructive. The city promises full support for the 2025 changes. Those affected will receive guidelines and reimbursement for all expenses.