Starnberg tightens alcohol ban at the lake: particularly strict rules in bathing areas

Created: 03/23/2022, 11:00 am

By: Tobias Gmach

From 8 p.m. taboo: drinking beer on the Starnberg lake promenade.

The city administration originally wanted to introduce an alcohol ban even from 3 p.m.

However, several city councilors advocated that the "after-work break" on the lake shore must continue to be possible.

© Andrea Jaksch

The alcohol ban at the lake in Starnberg now applies from 8 p.m. instead of 10 p.m.

There will soon be even stricter and more extensive rules for bathing areas such as the Steininger property.

The city is forced to act because of the antics of drunk youths.

Starnberg – They listen to loud music, shout around, insult other bathers, leave their rubbish on the lawn and throw glass bottles into the water.

Or as CSU City Councilor Thomas Beigel puts it: "They drink until the lights go out." The antics of young people in the Starnberg bathing areas at the lake - especially on the Steininger property - have grown into a real problem.

The members of the main and finance committee of the city council agreed on Monday evening.

And also that the city has to do something about it - more than employing a private security service and imposing a ban on alcohol at the lake after 10 p.m.

After a long debate about the details, a decision was made that required another one: there should be stricter rules for the bathing area.

The city administration is now to work out its exact design and then submit it to the committee for the final decision.

Mayor Patrick Janik has already indicated what is possible: in addition to a general ban on alcohol, a ban on glass bottles or a "smoking corner" are also possible.

Many ads at the lake - alcohol ban rejected from 3 p.m

Theft, damage to property, insult, trespassing, sale without permission: twelve criminal offenses and two administrative offenses in the entire area of ​​the Alcohol Prohibition Ordinance that expired at the end of 2021 (this also included Seepromenade and Bucentaurpark) were reported to the police last year.

There were also 25 other reports – due to disturbance of the peace, harassment or disputes.

Many city councilors did not like the administration's desire to ban the carrying and drinking of alcohol in all public waterside areas from 3 p.m.

"In Bavaria, one or the other drinks a half after work and looks into the lake.

He would then have a problem," said Ludwig Jägerhuber (CSU).

He received support from Josef Pfister (BMS), who sounded similar: "We live in Bavaria, so someone has a beer with them.

Where are we going?

We can't regulate everything.” Winfried Wobbe (UWG) said he initially thought “3 p.m.” was a misprint.

In the end, the committee rejected the administration's proposal 6:7 - the defenders of the after-work half had narrowly won.

Alcohol ban: some local politicians change their minds

However, local politicians, who had argued quite differently two years ago, are now also calling for tightening up in the bathing areas.

Like Marc Fiedler (FDP).

He looked at the situation at "Steininger" and changed his mind.

"What's going on there, this crowd, compared to that, the Wiesn is shit," he said, somewhat exaggerating.

An application by Ludwig Jägerhuber led to a compromise and a special regulation for the bathing area.

In this context, the committee also decided to ban alcohol from 8 p.m.

It applies to the lake promenade, in the Bucentaurpark and - until there are further regulations - on the "Steininger" and in the Böhler-Grund and Percha bathing areas.

Only Annette Kienzle and Kerstin Täubner-Benicke from the Greens voted against the tightened regulation.

Janik wants to tie down the new extra rules for the recreation areas before the summer.

The concern that bans are only useful if they are also controlled was heard in the meeting.

It is not yet clear when the security guard, which was decided to supplement the police force in Starnberg in 2019, can help.

The pandemic has thwarted plans so far.

At the end of March or beginning of April, the comprehensive training courses, which consist of 40 teaching units of 45 minutes each, are to begin.

The first deployments are not expected until June at the earliest – if everything goes according to plan.

How quickly the training progresses also depends on the corona situation and developments relating to the G7 summit at Schloss Elmau (June 26 to 28) and in Ukraine.

The administration received this information from the police.

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