The new start year in the Dorfener Tonwerk

Created: 01/22/2022, 09:00

By: Timo Aichele

“The metalworking shop is there for every event”: Tonwerk bosses Andreas Wagner (right) and Michael Lanzinger in the new event hall.

© Timo Aichele

The Schlosserei event hall and the Heizwerk club are to be opened in the Tonwerk this year.

After the departure of Tobi Maier, Andi Wagner and Michael Lanzinger now form the managing duo.

Dorfen

– 2022 will be the new year at Tonwerk Dorfen. As everywhere in the club scene, there is a Corona standstill in the Dorfen party city, the team is on short-time work. At the same time, two new locations are already waiting for their first guests. The "Schlosserei", an all-round event hall, as well as the future heart chamber, the "Heizwerk" club, are finally to be opened this year. The enforced silence gives the clay workers time to turn a major upheaval into a new beginning. Tonwerk co-founder Tobi Maier left in autumn. The management now consists of Andreas Wagner, the second man of the then founding duo, and Michael Lanzinger.

Despite the pandemic, the two are not sitting back - there are many projects.

"We're not planning too much for our continuous operation," says Wagner (28).

"Only Mogli's is allowed to open.

Everything else runs under a club and disco concession,” explains his 27-year-old business partner, who has been part of the team since the end of 2019.

Nevertheless, there are already many dates on the Tonwerk website.

The first event already fixed is a street food weekend from April 22nd.

The spring festival with the Dorfen car show could become a highlight for Dorfen from May 25th.

The locksmith's shop will act as a kind of beer tent, and various beer gardens will be set up on the site. Conceptually, the spring festival has the motto "Fuchsdeifiswuid" - like other hearty Bavarian events in the Tonwerk program. “We have defined new formats. See what suits us and the people,” says Lanzinger. Everything should reflect the "Tonwerk feeling".

In addition to Fuchsdeifiswuid, recurring series of events include the Techno Festival Megaton, Open Air Club, Street Food Market, Vintage & Fashion Flea Markets and Christmas Market. In addition, external organizers or private individuals can also rent space in the various locations. "We have a number of inquiries for the locksmith," reports Lanzinger - indoor beer garden, weddings, cabaret, comedy. "When it comes to weddings, we've already arrived in 2023."

It is only planned for the near future. In the short term, no one knows what the pandemic will allow. "At the moment everyone is idling," says Lanzinger, who describes himself as a "gastro child" and has a degree and experience in media and marketing. Wagner has an apprenticeship in IT and electronics, a degree in printing and media technology - and a lot of event experience. Together they lead a team of around 80 people including 450-euro employees - from marketing to event management, administration and gastronomy to logistics. Twelve full-time employees are among them.

“We made a lot of plans that were for naught. It's just not fun," says Wagner of the past year. The experiences have been frustrating. "We had planned everything - from the club lineup to the pre-New Year's Eve party." The Tonwerk team was rudely slowed down - not only by the pandemic.

Because the locksmith's shop should have started as a new location in mid-September with a big beer and wine festival. The bands were booked, the advertising was already running. But there was still a final approval from the district office - fire protection. The rip cord had to be pulled at the last minute. "We underestimated the processing times," Lanzinger admits. However, the responsibility for this does not lie with the authorities, he emphasizes. When it comes to renovation projects on such old buildings, one always encounters unforeseen problems. "Now the locksmith's shop is completely finished," reports Lanzinger.

"Something has to be possible this summer," Wagner is convinced.

In addition to the dates that have already been set, the Tonwerk team will start planning the open air in April.

"The locksmith's shop is there at every event." There could also be cabaret again.

"In the cabaret sector, we see ourselves as a platform," says Lanzinger.

The events were set up with two external agencies - as in the 2021 culture summer with artists such as Erwin Pelzig, Martin Frank and Stefan Otto.

A few kilometers away, in the Jakobmayer cultural center, this caused irritation at the time.

Typical Jakobmayer program in the Tonwerk, while the municipal facility also made up for some events that had been postponed due to the pandemic.

At that time there were talks, which remained without result.

It's not about competition.

"We are all Dorfeners," explains Lanzinger.

There may be future collaborations.

But the difficulty is also that Jakobmayer plans well in advance, while the time horizons in the clay works are somewhat shorter.

A club is the heart of a party mile.

In the Tonwerk it will be the "Heizwerk" that should also be brought to life in autumn 2021.

This year the time has come.

"That's one of the big milestones, because the club is where the heart and soul is," says Lanzinger.

The heating plant is still a secret project.

Pipes and old technology will give this club a special flair.

The Tonwerker want to surprise the public with exactly what this looks like, until the last permits are available and disco evenings are possible again due to the corona.

The anticipation is great, because techno, house and electro are the original DNA of all Tonwerk dreams.

Andi Wagner and Tobi Maier alias DJ Sonnengruss had started with open air events in Oberdorfen and clubbing at E3.

In 2019, the Tonwerk was supposed to really take off - and was soon slowed down by the pandemic.

The break-up of the previous management team is a big change.

Maier's departure made a major restructuring necessary.

"You can't just sit someone down and say: Do it like Tobi.

There were already a lot of questions,” says Wagner.

"But because there wasn't much going on, the induction was easy," adds Lanzinger.

And the reasons?

Tobi Maier had spoken of "personal reasons".

"With such a rapid growth that we are going through, there are changes and transformations," says Wagner.

"I think it's a great pity, but it has to go on."