The Penzberg Monument Protection Association criticizes the planned demolition of the former slaughterhouse building on Karlstrasse.
He calls on the city council to reconsider the decision.
It would be "a Penzberg cultural disgrace" to sacrifice the slaughterhouse built in 1899 only for parking spaces, according to the conservationists.
Penzberg - The former slaughterhouse on Karlstrasse has been empty for over two years.
The last tenant in the municipal building was a laundry.
Last August, a majority of the city council decided to demolish the building and create a provisional parking lot on the site - an idea that the CSU parliamentary group had already expressed two years ago.
The area between Karlstraße and the playground on Gustavstraße will serve as a parking lot until a new building - possibly residential development - is built, it said.
The demolition should take place in early 2021, city builder Justus Klement recently confirmed in the October meeting of the city council.
After demolition, the city wants to create a parking lot for a transitional period
The Association for Monument Preservation and Penzberg City History is now criticizing the demolition.
Sacrificing the slaughterhouse built in 1899 only for parking spaces, mainly intended for foreign commuters, is felt to be "to put it mildly, as a Penzberg cultural disgrace," explains the association in a message.
The preservationists remind us that it is at least part of the history trail of the city of Penzberg - a plaque on Karlstrasse has been pointing to the history of the slaughterhouse since 2000.
“This educational trail honors 29 buildings, of which only 18 are left.
All the others have already been torn down, ”said the association.
Monument protection criticism: Ex-slaughterhouse is part of the history trail
The preservationists criticize the fact that “another historically valuable building is to be sacrificed”.
The 121 year old slaughterhouse with its outbuildings deserves to be “preserved as one of the oldest buildings still in existence in Penzberg”.
It gives "testimony to the proud past of the mining town," they argue.
In their announcement, the monument friends underline this with a look into the past: The slaughterhouse and the dairy were important for supplying the population.
Today, according to the association, one would speak of "systemically relevant".
On certain days in the slaughterhouse there was so-called free bank meat for the poorer population, "which of course had to be approved by the responsible veterinarian and could not exceed four fifths of the market price for suitable meat".
The free bank butcher and veterinarian had their apartment in the building.
According to the conservationists, it should not be forgotten that the miners once raised 48,000 marks for the construction of the slaughterhouse, exclusively from the local malt and beer surcharge.
“The thirsty miners' throats from back then made a valuable contribution to the construction of the slaughterhouse, which still deserves to be appreciated today.” In the opinion of the monument lovers, the building is therefore owned by the population in the broadest sense.
Against this background, they describe it as strange that the city council has decided to demolish the building without a prior inspection and assessment and that the population has no say.
Monument association calls on city council to reconsider decision
The association is now calling on the city council to reconsider the demolition.
He also suggests that all buildings and their surroundings be opened to the public on an open day.
According to the conservationists, safety concerns such as the risk of collapse could not speak against it, since the building was used by a laundry or cleaning service until two years ago.
From the point of view of the association, the ensemble has “a certain architectural charm”.
It could “act as a gateway to the city center and signal that Penzberg does not only consist of faceless functional buildings”.
The preservationists write that it is not clear that the uses that have been repeatedly discussed in the past as a senior meeting place, multi-generation house, daycare center, day care and day care or for apartments have not been put to the test more seriously.
