Work on the foyer in Bad Wiessee is stalling again - "regrettable condition"

The construction site on the site of the old iodine bath in Bad Wiessee lies fallow, and the listed foyer is falling into disrepair.

The owners have to secure the hall - but there is a problem.

Bad Wiessee

- In the summer of 2018, Florian Kamelger, Managing Director of the Sports Medicine Excellence Group (SME), announced that the Wiesseer Wandelhalle would be "an open house". There was talk of fine gastronomy that should be accessible to everyone, not just for the guests of the luxury clinic, which SME wanted to replace the old iodine bath. Now the foyer is open in many places, and that is a problem. The Miesbach District Office, as the lower monument protection authority, is making slow progress in securing the historic hall from complete decay. The work has started on one side of the hall, but is already stalling again.

"From the point of view of the monument protection authority, the condition of the foyer is regrettable," explains district architect Christian Boiger.

As reported, the authority has been trying since the beginning of the year to wrest the company from SME as the owner of securing the historical substance.

Property obliges.

If the request by notice is unsuccessful, the monument protection authority can commission the necessary work itself.

In this case, however, the taxpayer would have to pay for the financing first.

The Free State would try to get the money back from the owner of the monument - with a questionable outcome.

Just a makeshift backup of the inventory

In the summer, SME finally commissioned an architect to carry out the security measures. To protect the building from rain, frost and vandalism, cracked windows must be replaced and the roof sealed. As Boiger reports, work is now taking place again and again. "But only in sections." Unfortunately, the backup has already stalled again. According to Boiger, this is only a makeshift safeguarding of the existing building, a temporary solution without any design requirements and with little durability. An emergency safety system usually only saves a building for two winters, Boiger makes clear.

Nobody in the municipal council believes that SME will still implement the plans of yore.

The Swiss company signed an option to purchase the 18,000 square meter property back in September 2015.

This was followed by planning for the “sports clinic” with a therapy center and a luxury hotel with 65 rooms.

Meals were to be made in the foyer, the expressiveness of which investors enthusiastically praised.

In January 2018, SME paid seven million euros for the property, and the groundbreaking ceremony took place in December 2018.

But SME stopped work as early as May 2019.

It had to be readjusted in order to ensure financial viability, Kamelger said at the time.

Nothing has happened on the construction site since then.

No solution in sight yet

Most recently, Kamelger stated that he was trying very hard “to present a solution for Bad Wiessee that would satisfy everyone”.

According to Mayor Robert Kühn, nothing is in sight.

The community remains immovable on its course to insist on the approved use.

Under no circumstances will the municipality allow the construction of condominiums.