Georg Karl sat for 28 years for the SPD in the Peißenberg municipal council, and for 12 years he was a consultant for the Neue Bergehalde. While walking there, he tells how a mine dump, which resembled a lunar landscape, became a blooming jewel.
Peißenberg - "There it is!" Georg Karl takes a big step into the meadow, where a strong violet glows above the lush green: "Orchis militaris, the helmet orchid", explains Karl and sounds a little more awesome than he is of this Orchid tells, which is under strict conservation and is on the Red List of Endangered Species.
It is a clear morning, one of those late spring mornings that are already stretching towards summer. The sky over Peißenberg is bright blue except for a few white clouds. The meadows of the Neue Bergehalde have created their most beautiful color scheme: shades of green in all shades, strong yellow, violet, lilac, white and blue. "I am happy every year when I see the flowers," says Georg Karl, whom they call "Karl, Schorsch" in Peißenberg. When the mountain heap blooms in spring, then he knows why he has taken all the trouble and overcome any resistance: "Your heart will open."
New stockpile: Georg Karl was a consultant for twelve years
Karl was a member of the market town council for 28 years, including twelve as a consultant for the Neue Bergehalde, at the foot of which he lives, and he had leased the hunting ground there for 20 years. He gave up this hunt two years ago and now that he is no longer on the municipal council, his time as a speaker has ended. When he talks about his work as a market town councilor, he quickly gets to the topic that has been close to his heart over the years: the new slag heap.
Karl brought a folder for a walk this morning. It is the beginning of a project to which he now wants to focus: writing down and documenting the history of the new slag heap. "I have to hold that down," he says, showing pictures from his portfolio. Black and white photographs that tell of Peißenberg's mining past, which is the reason for the existence of the two local mining heaps. The 40 million tonnes of overburden that were dug out of the Hohen Peißenberg were heaped up there. Because it wasn't all pitch coal that came from mining.
New stockpile: the area resembled a lunar landscape
The Alte Bergehalde to the west of Schongauer Straße consists of the deaf rock from the deep tunnel, the overburden from the Ziegelmeier shaft forms the Neue Bergehalde. The two heaps are 75 hectares today. In 1971 the Peißenberg mine was closed, which also had consequences for Karl: he had learned locksmithing in the mine and was a member of the miners' chapel. This was completely taken over by "Agfa Gevaert". The Neue Bergehalde resembled a lunar landscape - it was not for nothing that episodes of the series "Raumpatrouille Orion" were filmed there six years earlier. Karl explains that the former mine heap now blooms in the most beautiful colors in spring and that it is a popular recreational destination for nature lovers in summer, autumn and winter: "It didn't all happen by itself, that was a tough fight. "
New stockpile: backdrop for “Orion Space Patrol”
After the Neue Bergehalde was no longer filled up with overburden after the mining for Peißenberg had ended, nature began to reclaim the site. The traces left by mining gradually faded away, and over time bushes and trees grew. Around 40 years after the last coal was mined from the Hohen Peißenberg, the area that forms the link between the "Wörth" district and the "village" was in danger of being completely covered up: "Everything was overgrown here," explains Karl and indicates the first left hill after the barrier on Robert-Koch-Strasse. Around ten years ago, he started to work even more intensively on the new mountain dump. Plans for the restoration of the area were drawn up: "I got into it with great euphoria about ten years ago."
New stockpiles: Neophytes were repeatedly removed
Karl, who has been a member of the SPD for about 60 years, and his fellow campaigners could not draw on the full, the finances of the market town were too clammy: "Our focus was always that we can manage cheaply," he says. With the help of supporters, the community and sometimes prisoners from the JVA Landsberg, areas were cleared and neophytes were removed again and again, which would have displaced native plants without control. It took a lot of persuasion to convince the farmers who cultivate land on the Neue Bergehalde that sooner or later it will no longer be possible to fertilize and mow only twice, says Karl: “Sometimes it was a fight against windmills. “But, even if he sometimes had to give up on small things - for example when the disc golf course on the Neue Bergehalde could not be prevented - he never resigned. And it was worth it: "If I look down there, that's my reward," says Karl, looking at a meadow that is blooming brightly.
New stockpile: Four different types of orchids bloom
Where fertilization has been dispensed with for many years, a wide variety of flowers in the most colorful colors sway in the spring wind, and numerous orchids show up in their most beautiful blooms. "There are four different young herbs alone", enthuses Karl: "Where can you see that?", He asks and points to the meadow in front of him with his arm outstretched. At the soccer field, Karl and his colleagues planted several fruit trees and fenced the area. There it is a real sea of flowers that sways in the spring wind: daisies, buttercups, bluebells, rattling pots and much more are growing there. Every jogger and every walker greets the man with the white beard, who has spent a lot of time up here. Is it difficult for Karl to say goodbye to the town council and his post as a consultant for the new waste pile? He smiles and says: “In spirit I am always up here.
This is also interesting:
Swimming fun in the "Rigi-Rutsch'n" can begin - next Monday the "Rigi-Rutsch'n" starts in the summer season. Due to the corona crisis, there will be no normal bathing operations. The municipal works build on the sense of responsibility of the visitors. Details of the protection and hygiene concept were presented yesterday at a press conference.
New elevated tank for the Peißenberg drinking water - The Peißenberg municipal works are constantly investing in their infrastructure. A major project worth millions will soon be on the agenda: the construction of a modern drinking water storage facility.