Rostock’s ex-mayor Claus Madsen (50) liked to show himself to be a big sports fan and celebrated when he was promoted Hansa and the Bundesliga basketball players.
But after Madsen’s desertion for career reasons (now Minister in Schleswig-Holstein), Eva-Maria Kröger (40/left) was elected as the new head of the Hanseatic city.
What does that mean for Rostock’s top clubs?
So far she has not appeared as a fan, has also held back during the election campaign and avoided ingratiating closeness. Out of style or disinterest? Kröger: “So far, my everyday work has hardly allowed me to take part in sporting events on a regular basis. Maybe I can change that in the future.” She doesn’t have any preferences: “Every sports club has its fans, every sports club is important for the city.”
But what help can Hansa, the Seawolves or the second division handball players from Empor Rostock expect from her? Kröger: “As a municipality, we are there to create framework conditions for sport and to influence them positively. Because sport not only means health, but also social cohesion and active integration. Professional sport is an important facet, because it is about role models, exciting competitions, economic power and, last but not least, a positive image for our city. But my heart is above all for mass sport. So many people volunteer in the clubs and sports groups for our city! That’s great, I’d like to continue to promote that.”
This is one of the reasons why a swimming pool – announced umpteen times by predecessors – has priority: “It’s about time that we not only made a promise, but finally kept it. In this respect, this would be my big sporting dream for Rostock.”
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And what about the plan discussed last year (which has now been shelved) to buy the Ostseestadion from Hansa? What about a new arena for basketball and handball players?
The future mayor of the city: “I am very optimistic about the arena at the main train station that we can create attractive new training and competition conditions here together with the OSPA and relatively quickly. As far as the option of the city buying the Ostseestadion is concerned, there are still many question marks at the moment. A serious examination is important to us, but it is currently becoming apparent that we as a city will probably not be able to tackle this task alone.”