The Black Forest is arguing about the Silk Road

There are a few Chinese restaurants in Lahr and since 2018 also a successful "China Start-up Center". But what is now being discussed in the 43,000-inhabitant town at the foot of the Black Forest, far exceeds this framework.

It is about the former military airfield of the town, which is located next to the A5 motorway and not far from the railway, just five kilometers from the Rhine. The airport has a long history: after the Second World War, the area served first French troops, later the Canadian military as European headquarters. After reunification, several investors sought to build profitable civil aviation operations - and all failed.

Now a consortium of several Chinese investors could help the airport shine again. The investors have offered to put around 200 million euros in the lumbering around plant. 200 million euros are a lot of money for Lahr - usually the city has a budget of around 160 million euros per year. A new landing lights, navigation systems, a real terminal building or a hotel could, so it is dreamed in the city hall, with the money of the Chinese arise.

But the offer addressed to the city threatens Lahr's relationship with one of the most important entrepreneurs in the region: tunneling pioneer Martin Herrenknecht. He has leased the airport from the city after the numerous failures in 2013 and has been using it for his private flights since then. Other companies and wealthy individuals also like to start their jets here.

Herrenknecht thinks nothing of Chinese money. At least if it gets in the way of his own needs.

Jumbo jets can even start on the runway

"Wherever Chinese investors start with attractive infrastructures in Europe, first the money and then 'Made in China' comes with full force," says the 77-year-old with reference to the New Silk Road - the trade route, which is already up to the port of Duisburg ranges and with which China wants to expand its power in the world.

Read here: Why Duisburg is the most important city in Germany for China

The entry of Chinese investors could have "quite threatening dimensions for locally and regionally established trade," says Herrenknecht. For example, the mail order company Zalando operates a large logistics center at the airport. In addition, the entrepreneur refers to the airports in Schwerin-Parchim and Frankfurt Hahn. They would be troubled by Chinese investment.

With an estimated fortune of around 800 million euros, Herrenknecht is not only one of the richest Germans, but also the employer of more than 5,000 people worldwide, many of whom work at the company headquarters in the nearby Schwanau-Allmannsweier. Should the Chinese offer be more concrete, the city of Herrenknecht would have to terminate the lease in the worst case scenario. Can Lord Mayor Wolfgang G. Müller and the local council afford to scare off the leading entrepreneur?

When Müller, 68, speaks of the airport, he speaks of a gift. In fact, the facility offers more than ordinary district councils in the province. The runway is suitable for jumbo jets with a length of more than 3000 meters, heads of government and also Pope Benedict XVI. already landed here. Parts of Herrenknechts tunnel boring machines were also flown from here into the world.

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Now, the Lord Mayor wishes, new investments could attract significantly more entrepreneurs than before and lure them to the airport on the Rhine Valley Rail, which is important for freight traffic. Also a lot of tourists could land here, the heights of the Black Forest and Vosges as well as the Europapark with its roller coasters are only a few kilometers away. The promised money would be there to make the airport chic. But still all this is in the subjunctive.

The fact that Herrenknecht ensured flight operations six years ago is what Müller sees as "regional responsibility". But how long does that gratitude last?

Lahr does a lot to strengthen his relations with China. Mayor Müller traveled only a few weeks ago with a delegation of the city administration in various Chinese cities. Herrenknecht, for its part, has been doing business in China for a long time, and its machines are currently digging their way through the underground in Guangzhou - paving the way for the new Metro.

THE MIRROR

But Herrenknecht now has competition from China. Recently, the country announced, according to the newspaper "People's Daily", for the first time to export even a far-eastern tunnel boring machine. The monster with a shield of eleven meters in diameter is to go to Moscow.

In the airport project, Lahr's city councilor knows about the risks of too much Chinese influence. "There are geo-strategic aspects, after all, it's about trade and important infrastructure," says Müller. "We are certainly not naïve in the negotiations." Therefore, it is not talked about a sale of the airport, but only about investment. However, Müller does not disclose which Chinese interests are involved - confidentiality has been agreed with the potential investors.

Müller will soon be rid of the topic. He will no longer appear in the mayoral election on 22 September. In addition, in May, the municipal council of the city was re-elected. It is now up to this body to decide on the offer, says Müller. He still hopes for a friendly solution with Herrenknecht. The investors are open for this.

An amicable agreement is from the point of view of the city also not completely unimportant, because Herrenknecht has an advantage in the negotiations: the permanent lease he could terminate with a period of three months, Lahr would have to comply twice as long a period.

So far, the entrepreneur relentlessly - and likes to complain about the Chinese plans. Such a feat does not get anybody "sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! It depends on reliable concepts, but also on the consensus in the region, says Herrenknecht. And he was "not the only one who can not quite understand the China initiative of the Lord Mayor therefore."

Should it actually break, Lahr "loses a reasonably well-established and proven operator concept," says Herrenknecht. Then he would look for an "other, obvious location for my flight operations".

With Strasbourg, the Baden-Airpark southwest of Rastatt and the Euroairport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Herrenknecht would have several alternatives.