"Two-class society" at the tunnel opening in Oberau: Citizens are left out at the ceremony
Created: 05/20/2022, 07:00
By: Alexander Kraus
Not much is missing anymore: only the final remaining work needs to be done on the Oberau Tunnel.
© Very
The big day is just around the corner: the Oberau Tunnel will be opened on Father's Day.
Instead of joy, the citizens are more likely to be dismayed.
Oberau – Actually, there should be a happy mood, so shortly before the opening of the Oberau Tunnel on Thursday, May 26th.
Instead, resentment spreads in the village.
The matter has now come up in the council.
Josef Lohr, chief of the free voters in town, burst the collar.
Shortly before the end of the session, he took the floor – and received support from his CSU colleague Florian Rückborn.
"Those who fought for the tunnel for years," Lohr scolded, "are not there."
At Autobahn GmbH, which is organizing the official ceremony from 1 p.m., efforts are being made to smooth things over.
Basically there is a space problem, emphasizes spokeswoman Katharina Holzapfel.
In addition, the planning for the opening to traffic has been underway since September 2021. "The ceremony was planned before the relaxation of the Corona regulations came into force."
Corona does not make sense as an argument
In Oberau there is still horror.
Several municipal councils reported outraged citizens.
"It hurts us that the drummers and the band are not allowed to be there," emphasized Lohr.
Likewise, that the fellow campaigners of the citizens' initiative traffic relief Oberau (VEO) are left out.
"They've been doing work for the Oberauer Tunnel for decades." Many disgruntled local residents have also approached Rückborn.
He even spoke of a "two-class society" at the celebrations.
"That doesn't go down well in Oberau."
The two local politicians were among the guests at the district music festival in Großweil at the weekend.
According to Corona Lohr, there did not seem to have been a problem there.
"There were 5,000 people in the beer tent," he clarified.
The municipal council therefore does not understand that, for reasons of infection, only 250 people are allowed to attend the ceremony at the north portal.
A glitch with the invitations
Holzapfel tries to calm things down – and admits one thing: the VEO was actually missing from the list of invitations.
"A mishap, but we will fix it immediately," she promises.
Inviting the whole village is simply not possible due to the location.
The planning of the celebration was a "murderous effort", "we can't switch around at short notice".
Nobody could have expected that all corona restrictions would suddenly be lifted in March.
In addition, the press spokeswoman refers to the citizens' festival, which begins immediately afterwards at 3 p.m.
Everyone is welcome there.
Then everyone can explore the new tunnel on foot, by bike or with inline skates.
Autobahn GmbH has nothing to do with this part of the celebrations, Mayor Peter Imminger (CSU) made clear at the meeting.
The fact that citizens do not necessarily attend such ceremonies was already evident in September 2019, when a new section of the A94 was opened in the east of Munich.
Residents and landowners were not invited there either.
The mayor understands the outrage of the citizens
It's similar this time too.
The list of those invited includes government representatives and employees from the ministries and authorities.
Bavaria's Minister of Transport Christian Bernreiter and Member of Parliament Alexander Dobrindt (both CSU) will give a speech.
What bothers Oberau, however, is that only district and Oberau municipal councils and the chairmen of local clubs are invited from the surrounding area.
That is what causes resentment: "It's more than sad what's going on there," said Josef Bobinger (CSU).
He feels sorry for the population, who have to be "in front of the door" by 3 p.m.
"That's shameful," scolded the deputy mayor.
Andre Fuchs (Freie Wahler) reported that the community's planning for the ceremony had been postponed.
"It's very different from what we imagined.
The Oberauer Musikkapelle was explicitly uninvited.
"You can see how far away we are from a tunnel opening like it was in Farchant," he complained.
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Imminger can also understand the outrage of the population, but points out that "the municipality has no influence on the ceremony".
The mayor also knows why the brass band isn't playing.
“Autobahn GmbH has its own chapel.” Holzapfel confirms this.
The music group is a cooperation with the State Building Authority in Weilheim.
The press officer deeply regrets that this discord is still happening.
She opens a small back door for all those "who actually want to listen to the dry speeches," as she says.
Of course, she couldn't issue an official invitation, "but if someone really wants to be there, we won't leave them standing at the fence".
