Scandal on the island of Sylt

Local guests dance and shout racist slogans

Symbolic image

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

There is great outrage in Germany following the emergence of a party video from the North Sea island of Sylt. The video shows young people dancing to the melody of the party hit "L'amour Toujours" by Gigi D'Agostino and singing "Foreigners out" and "Germany to the Germans".

The short recording - krone.at does not show it for media law reasons - spreads rapidly on social media, even though the original post has already been deleted. The bar in front of which the young people were dancing distanced itself from the guests on Friday night and announced consequences.

"If we had known about the incident, we would of course have expelled the guests in question. There is no place for racism!!!", the restaurant operators wrote on Instagram. Every guest, regardless of ethnicity, is welcome. The people in question would be banned from the premises, they said.

"Will report disgusting behavior"
In another post, the operators wrote that they had now received the names of "these Nazis". "We will report this disgusting behavior and use all possibilities under criminal law!!!"

Berlin SPD politician Sawsan Chebli wrote on Platform X on Friday night: "Germany to the Germans. Foreigners out. Foreigners out.' Location: Sylt. And they feel so safe." TV presenter Jan Böhmermann asked: "Who and where are these people?" And presenter Dunja Hayali tweeted: "With Hitler beards and bubbly, but without "foreigners". #Sylt. 2024". According to bild.de, the video was made at the Pony pub in Kampen at Whitsun (see map above).

Police examine video
The police are already examining the video. "A video of revelers on #Sylt is currently circulating on social media. We are aware of this video and are examining it for criminally relevant content," wrote the police on Friday on platform X. "We would like to thank you for the numerous tips, which we have forwarded to the relevant authorities."

Several similar incidents in other federal states
This is not the first time that racist incidents have occurred in connection with the song "L'amour Toujours". In Lower Bavaria, the police investigated a possible incident at a carnival parade in January. At the event in Stulln, a group of spectators chanted "foreigners out" when Gigi D'Agostino's song was played from a float, a witness told local press representatives. Similar incidents had previously called investigators to the scene in Landsberg am Lech in Upper Bavaria, among other places. There, several people on a train carriage are also said to have chanted "foreigners out" to the song. The police investigated on suspicion of incitement to hatred and were looking for witnesses.

The public prosecutor's office in Schleswig-Holstein also launched an investigation. According to the police, a complaint was received there on 17 January after visitors to a discotheque sang "Foreigners out" to the song. The incident is said to have taken place on January 7.