Michael Amberger and his brother Christian have always done something unusual - whether as owners of the mineral oil company Allguth or as patrons of culture.
In 2005 they bought the former combined heat and power plant in Aubing and now want to create a cultural center there.
A conversation with Michael Amberger.
Are you planning a Werksviertel West, a counterpart to the future cultural center at Ostbahnhof?
No.
We have no role models and we don't want to be comparable to anyone.
We don't have a fixed star that guides us - we have a good inner voice that tells us: You just have to do that.
By “we” I always mean my brother and me, all of our plans have actually been made together since we were children.
Why did it take so long? In 2015 you were thinking of a concert hall with 1,800 to 2,000 seats.
At that time, that was our offer to the city and its Philharmonic for an interim venue.
Its director Paul Müller was also our fan - especially with the thought of attracting other audiences with such an architecture and such a concept.
But there were just too many critical voices.
It was said that such a hall in Aubing was too far from the center.
Concert organizers were of the same opinion.
We couldn't inspire enough people at the time.
Even if it stays that way: the location is absolutely wonderful.
The decision made at the time enabled us to now think completely freely.
They are planning 300 concerts a year. Mainly as own events?
We had just started construction on the existing building, i.e. the atrium, the former boiler hall.
We are planning a large open bar area for 500 people.
The new building next to it will have a length of 100 meters and 10,000 square meters of floor space.
This is where the actual concert hall is supposed to be.
At first, the concert hall in Blaibach, run by Thomas E. Bauer, which we think is great, was almost too strong a role model.
We always thought of a hall with 200 seats and at some point had to sum up: It would be too small.
So we are currently rescheduling to 400 places.
We don't want to start a concert hall discussion with it.
But we consider such a size to be necessary because it does not exist for chamber music formats in Munich, for example - and because we want to address the independent scene to a certain extent.
We are looking for fellow campaigners, including Thomas E. Bauer.
So the Amberger brothers do not become artistic directors.
No.
We will not be noticed in public, we will stay in the second row.
How do you attract the audience to Aubing?
We will have great buildings with a brilliant program.
We will be spectacular and contagious.
And we will be rebellious.
If there is a lot of heart involved, it also reaches the hearts of others.
There is also a large catchment area as far as Augsburg.
And from the main train station it is only 14 minutes by S-Bahn.
So the location is very charming.
The interview was conducted by Markus Thiel.
