To the Editor:
Southampton Rectory
My name is Daniela Klewitz from Germany and I have been visiting Southampton for a few years now and I heard that you want to demolish a Heritage Building which is in pretty good shape.
Since I grew up in East Germany, I know too well what it is like to wipe out the past so there is no evidence left in any building, street or name. Believe me it is not nice to walk around in your home town where you don’t recognize a single house. They ripped down the east German palace in Berlin, as well as the wall. No history left to remind people of its existence.
Your history is not that old, so isn’t it even more important to preserve what is left from the days of settlement? Isn’t part of the charm of Southampton exactly to still have the older houses and cottages?
And if you have to take the building down, what is your reason? Don’t you have to tell the people of Southampton why?
Instead of the east German palace of the republic, they are building the old castle now again in Berlin. It won’t be the same because it is not the original castle – it is brand new.
You cannot rebuild history. Please remember this, before you bulldoze the Rectory. It will be gone. Forever.
Kind regards,
Daniela Klewitz
