Ebersberg - Georg Schuder, the chairman of the Ebersberg embellishment association, is angry.
“This is how you lose your cultural assets bit by bit,” he railed.
The reason for his annoyance has something to do with the free access to the landmark of Ebersberg: The observation tower will be temporarily closed from Wednesday, December 1st.
It's about insurance issues.
"Now you can no longer bawl because it smokes and cracks, and soon you will no longer be allowed to walk around Lake Egglburg because there is no railing on it," says Schuder, annoyed by the rampant security mentality.
The Beautification Association financed, built and inaugurated the observation tower in 1914. "You were allowed to go up there in winter for over 100 years and now you are no longer allowed to do that because everything is legally regulated," says Schuder, criticizing the winter closure for visitors. The owner is responsible for the traffic safety obligation. And after the tower had been built by the Beautification Association, but it was "at some point and the surrounding area" passed into the ownership of the city, the city of Ebersberg now has this security obligation. And she recently spoke out in a short press release.
It says: “Unfortunately we cannot guarantee winter maintenance on the tower.
As a result, the steps are often as smooth as a mirror, ”regrets Mayor Ulrich Proske.
"Our insurance company has urgently advised us to close the tower in winter for reasons of traffic safety." The result: Access to the tower will be laid with grids from December 1st until the end of the frost period - regardless of whether it is actually slippery or not.
"There are always a few nice days when there is no snow at all," says Schuder, annoyed about the total closure.
Then people could easily climb the steps to the platform, he says.
In winter the view is impressive - but the tower is locked
Especially in winter, when the weather is cold and clear, you have a fantastic view of the Alps from the Ebersberg observation tower. Even when the wind is blowing in winter, the effort to climb the numerous stairs has been worthwhile. The city knows best what its landmark is. The Ebersberg website reads: “The 35 meter high concrete tower was built shortly before and during the First World War on the initiative of a citizens' association on the site of a wooden tower erected in 1873 on Ludwigshöhe. Anyone who climbs the 169 steps up to the observation tower in the Ebersberger Forest will be rewarded with a fantastic view of the entire foothills of the Alps from the Berchtesgaden Alps to the Allgäu, and when visibility is particularly good, even the distant 3000m peaks can be seen. "
In some cases, Schuder even understands that the city wants to protect itself when it comes to road safety.
“But if it's not snowing, it is still closed”, if things go bad even until mid-April.
What the chairman of the beautification association does not understand: 100 years went without a lock in winter and now it suddenly no longer works.
There was also a partial closure last year.
Trouble with insurance
Schuder are to blame for the misery of the insurance companies. “There are enough lawyers in the insurance companies,” he says. "They want to get around the obligation to pay," speculates the head of the beautification association, by making the owner of the tower responsible, and that is the city of Ebersberg. “But if one screams, the other doesn't have to dance right away. The risk has to be weighed up, ”he argues in favor of making access to the observation tower dependent on the actual weather. If it's really smooth, the winter service is not guaranteed and the tower cannot be cleared, it can still be locked. The fact that you enter the tower at your own risk is written on a sign below.
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