A small house made of wood and clay is in Alois Riederer's garden in Hohenthann.
A hobbit house like in the Shire.
In the district office, however, one is not very pleased with the master carpenter's artwork.
Hohenthann - From the outside, the property looks like any other: a large enclosed garden with trees and a large, completely normal house in the middle.
If you look very closely, you will discover another, not so normal building - the Hohenthanner Hobbit House.
It got its name because it looks like the dwellings of the hobbits in the famous fantasy trilogy "Lord of the Rings".
District office wants to razed the hobbit house to the ground
Anyone standing in front of the misshapen house in the Landshut district actually feels a bit like in the Shire, where Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, the heroes of Middle-earth, are at home.
It is not quite as peaceful here as in the Shire.
Because the Landshut district office wants to razed the Hobbit house to the ground - because Riederer does not have a building permit for it.
“Actually, I just wanted a roof for the tree bar that stands in there below,” says the 48-year-old.
But nature guided him to continue building.
Riederer sees himself more as an artist than a carpenter.
An artist who soaks up nature and is inspired by her craftsmanship.
He is not an esotericist, he emphasizes.
But nature tells him what to do.
The house is supported by an apple tree
This is how the Hobbit House, supported by a huge apple tree, came about.
“I only use material that was already there and doesn't have to be produced,” says Riederer.
It is just sustainable.
A real outdoorsman.
He made the roof from logs and planted it with greenery.
Around 300 colorful flowers would bloom up there in spring.
He made the walls out of clay.
Black building or not - Riederer himself drew the authorities' attention to the Hobbit House.
"When I realized that it was going to be a bigger project after all, I went to the district office and asked what I needed so that I could continue building," he says.
That was in 2018. Then the Landshut District Office came with its experts to see whether the Hobbit House could be approved.
The demolition notice is already there
If he submits a written application and report on fire protection and statics, he was told that a building permit could be issued, Riederer explains - which he regards as an oral promise.
But when he got the documents together, he was told that the hobbit house disrupted the landscape and had to go.
"A lawyer from the district office submitted the reason," says Riederer.
The demolition notice came with the reason.
When asked by our newspaper, a spokeswoman for the Landshut District Office explained that “Mr. Riederer's building application was rejected in the summer of the year after a further thorough examination by the District Office as the building permit authority”.
The disposal order also exists.
"Since the decision by the administrative court is still pending, we cannot provide any further information on this ongoing procedure." District Administrator Peter Dreier (Free Voters) does not want to comment either.
Hobbit house disturbs the landscape?
"Total rubbish"
Neighbor Gabi Huber likes the hobbit house.
That it disturbs the landscape is "total rubbish".
Huber says: “I have my stable almost next to it.
Even Hohenthanner came by and asked where the Hobbit House actually was. ”She doesn't understand that a house that you can't see disturbs the landscape.
Gabi Huber is a fan of Riederer's work.
"He prepared every Asterl and looked at whether and where it could fit." The carpenter worked on the Hobbit house until late at night.
Partly with floodlights.
The surrounding neighbors have nothing against the building.
A reason given by the District Office that Riederer's 2,500 square meter property is built up with 24 percent is unfounded: “We have more than 30 percent built-up area.
That's a paradox. "
Riederer, a real Hohenthanner, sounds pretty angry when it comes to the demolition notice.
“It's a mess,” he says.
“We have the highest density of pigs in Bavaria and more and more are being approved.
And that fits into the landscape, doesn't it? "
According to the district office, there is a risk to life and limb
In addition to the Hobbit House, there are other curiosities in his garden: a coffee tree that actually makes good coffee - and a tree that fits a 20-liter beer barrel and comes out again through a tap.
Alois Riederer proudly says that nature inspired him to create all of these objects.
Construction is currently on hold on his property.
The carpenter is not allowed to dig the planned swimming pond or tinker with the outdoor sauna.
He is certainly not allowed to lay hands on the hobbit house, which is around ten meters in diameter.
"Nobody is allowed to go in because, according to the district office, there is a risk to life and limb", says the master carpenter.
"It should serve as a meeting point for people who want to make the world a better place"
He's currently working in his own house - which is hardly less extraordinary than the works in the garden.
He has covered a door with real leaves, with a woman in the middle.
The kitchen is also spectacular.
He has moss over the sink, where there are usually tiles.
"Once again, nature guided me and told me to make a moss kitchen." In the bedroom, Riederer created a wall made of clay - oval and round patterns in different colors.
Branches on the four corners of his bed serve as clothes horse.
And in the hallway there are large and small lamps made of gem stones, the warm light of which has a calming effect.
A master carpenter who has become more and more a natural artist?
“I was looking for myself when I was 24.
And somehow I found my way to nature, ”he explains.
Nature is Riederer's constant companion.
He doesn't worry too much when he's working.
He just does.
But it was different with the Hobbit House, says Riederer.
"It should serve as a meeting point for people who want to make the world a better place and who dedicate themselves to nature conservation." Of course, it could be that there is also a celebration.
Why else would there be the “beer tree” in the garden and the “tree bar” in the Hobbit house.
Fredl Fesl has taken on the sponsorship of the "Hobbit House"
Riederer has prominent supporters.
Songwriter Fredl Fesl has taken on the sponsorship of the "Hobbit House".
Fesl's handprint hangs in a frame next to the gnarled front door.
"Fredl Fesl always has an open ear for me and stands up for justice," praised Riederer.
The dialect band “Haindling” was already there.
“You have gladly agreed to support this positive project with your level of awareness,” says Riederer.
The case should be heard in February or March.
Due to Corona there is no appointment yet.
Alois Riederer concludes that he knows what is really behind the cinnabar about his project.
But he won't reveal what - not yet.
“The truth will emerge after the trial.
I tell what's really going on. ”So it remains exciting until the end - like in Tolkien's“ Lord of the Rings ”.
- Franziska Florian - * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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