The old vicarage becomes the new home for refugees

Created: 05/21/2022, 1:00 p.m

By: Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

Much has already been prepared in the old vicarage on Starnberger Straße so that the refugee families can move in here.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

The old vicarage in Hohenschäftlarn becomes the new home for Ukrainian refugees.

The house will continue to provide accommodation for people in need in the future.

Hohenschäftlarn

– In the municipality of Schäftlarn, 80 refugees from the Ukraine are currently being housed privately with families.

"In some cases it's very cramped," reported Second Mayor Marcel Tonnar (Greens), now representing Mayor Christian Fürst in the municipal council.

"People welcomed the refugees with open hearts, but now they need to be relieved."

One solution could be to rent the old vicarage on Starnberger Strasse.

Due to the changes in the legal status of refugees from Ukraine from the beginning of June, their accommodation falls outside of the regulations for asylum seekers.

The job center is then responsible.

“As a result, no more living space is allocated.

In the case of homelessness, the municipality is responsible,” explains Tonnar.

Church foundation provides buildings

The Catholic Church Foundation would make the old vicarage available, but for organizational reasons cannot take care of renting it out directly.

“We would have the option of founding an association that rents the property, or doing it ourselves as a municipality.” The advantage of the second option is that the municipality can control who moves in.

"There would therefore be no occupancy by state authorities without our consent." In addition, with a longer-term lease - there are currently no plans for a replacement or new building - there would be the possibility of accommodating people who are in need here in the future .

“However, we have to make sure that the rental agreement with the church allows sub-letting.”

House prepared for moving in

Thanks to the great commitment of the Schäftlarners, the house can already be occupied.

"The oil heating was overhauled, the walls were painted, the chimney sweep was there and gave the go-ahead, the floors have been laid and the electrical system has been completely checked," Tonnar lists some of the work that has already been completed.

Now the parapet is to be made childproof, since women and their children are to be accommodated here.

Pastor takes care of the refugees

The rooms, between twelve and 20 square meters in size, should each be occupied by two to three people.

Kitchen, dining room, bathroom and toilet are shared.

In addition, Pastor Stefan Scheifele is willing to get involved in crisis management.

The pastor was a military chaplain in Kosovo, he can empathize, knows what he is talking about.

Sebastian Berger (Greens) suggested inquiring about what rental period the municipality could expect.

"Perhaps even a long-term lease is possible." On behalf of his parliamentary group, Bernd Bütter attached importance to a reformulation.

"We should not stipulate that the house is for Ukrainian refugees, but for all people in need, regardless of their origin."