Café, convenience store, senior housing, advice racks: Unterammergau Mayor Michael Gansler has many ideas for the property next to the town hall, which the municipality bought. This will be decided by his successor and the new municipal council.
Unterammergau - Michael Gansler looks out the window. He likes what he sees. Because what he sees belongs to him. So not him personally. But to him as mayor, the community bought the property. Gansler is proud of it. In this house and its grounds, he sees a great opportunity for the community to develop. And to create an important offer.
For many years, the mayor says, the community has been interested in the Wehrle estate with its approximately 300 square meters of space, and discussions have been held with the owners time and again. Finally, in 2019 there was agreement. Gansler does not comment on the purchase price. The parties have agreed not to disclose information, he says. Knowing that the issue will appear in the household anyway. This is already happening - the purchase went off in November. Gansler wants to wait for the annual financial statements. "Once he's through, we can talk about it."
Wehrle estate in Unterammergau: core of the house built around 1900
Up until about 30 years ago there was the Kramerladen. House owner Hedwig Wehrle ran it himself.
© Dominik Bartl
The core of the house was built around 1900, the owners have repeatedly added or converted. Until about 30 years ago, according to Gansler, there was a Kramerladen on the ground floor. He was given up, but little was changed in the rooms. "Time has stopped there." In a way, Gansler wants to bring it back. He has a clear idea of how to best use the house. A café and village shop hover in front of him on the ground floor. With this, the community can react and revitalize the village center when the last baker closes in the village on Dorfstrasse - a matter of time because there is probably no successor.
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On the first floor of the house, Gansler would like to set up a permanent contact point for seniors, an office that Caritas or another operator will take care of. At the top, the mayor sees a community of senior citizens, apartments with a communal kitchen where older men and women meet and help each other.
Lots of ideas - Gansler's successor will decide after the election
Yes, Gansler would have many ideas. Before the end of 2021 or early 2022, however, nothing will happen in the neighboring house, he estimates. No longer his construction site. Because the 69-year-old says goodbye to the mayor. "I don't really want to stop," he says as he stands by the window and dreams of a café with seating outside. But after 42 years of local politics, including 18 years as city council chief, it was time. "If that's not enough, I don't know either." He would still have enough energy, but his nerves are getting thinner.
He will follow what his successor, Robert Stumpfecker (FUZ) or Michael Spindler (CSU), is doing. What will become of his ideas. They do not only concern the new property in community ownership.
Study for community-owned buildings ongoing
A study is currently underway. Five municipal buildings with the town hall, Wetzstoa Stubn, school house, children's cards and the teacher's home are examined. The central questions: Which offers are missing in the location and what can be realized? How can the five community buildings be used best, perhaps differently than before?
City Hall, for example: The administration has too little space. The treasurer and the management urgently need their own office in Gansler's eyes. He could imagine moving the meeting room to the ground floor and outsourcing the library. For example in the forest house - or in the new neighboring house. The study will show how experts evaluate Gansler's ideas. He expects a result in the spring.
