Former waiting room for concerts, exhibitions and meetings - "Dream of the citizens' station is taking shape"

Created: 06/10/2022, 12:02 p.m

By: Wolfgang Schörner

Entrance to the former waiting room of the Penzberg train station.

© Wolfgang Schorner

The former waiting room at the Penzberg train station will become a community meeting place, which will also have space for small concerts and exhibitions.

The renovation is currently underway.

The final touches will then be put on at the city festival in two weeks.

There is great joy at the "Penzberg 2030" initiative: "The dream of a citizens' station is taking shape."

Penzberg – For several years there has been a desire to turn the Penzberg station building, which has been owned by the city of Penzberg since 2014, into a “citizen station”.

Three years ago, a circle of train station friends called "Penzberg 2030" was formed to promote the idea and develop their own suggestions.

However, the corona pandemic slowed down activities.

But things are progressing now, even if earlier ideas such as a small brewery and a restaurant are no longer on the agenda: the city of Penzberg is currently converting the waiting room into a citizens' meeting place.

There will also be an adjoining room with a small kitchen.

The opening is planned for the end of June.

Former waiting room for concerts, exhibitions and meetings

According to the city, the former station waiting hall should be used for concerts, exhibitions, board meetings and rehearsals, for example.

It will have a pedestal as a stage as well as a sound and audio system.

According to Thomas Sendl, head of the department for communication, culture and business, the “multifunctional room” can be rented by clubs and volunteer groups through Thomas Kapfer-Arrington, who promotes volunteer work.

The city tapped into a special fund called "Invigorate Inner Cities" for the conversion.

This is about temporary use, explains Sendl.

The city council must first decide what will happen to the station building overall.

"Revamped": The final touches are to be put on at the city festival

At the moment the old waiting hall is still a construction site.

Walls are being painted there, the electrical system is being renewed and a wall is being broken through to an adjoining room.

The final touches will then be put on during the town festival.

Under the motto "refurbished", the city has called for help on Saturday, June 25th, from 10 a.m.

It should be “hammered together, carpentered and a curtain sewn”.

Trainees from the Lenk carpentry will carpenter the stage platform.

Oliver Kugel, known for his wooden sculptures, wants to make furniture.

Also taking part are members of the repair café, the workshop association and the bike repair shop, which repairs bikes at the train station from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The new meeting point is to be opened on Sunday, June 26, from 7 p.m. with a performance by the band “Konnexion Balkon”.

Joy at the citizens' initiative: "A small dream becomes reality"

The “Penzberg 2030” group is happy.

It will be "a small dream come true," write the station friends in a statement.

"It's a wonderful story for us," explains Konrad Kürzinger.

Above all, it is thanks to Anette Völker-Rasor and Monika Uhl, both also members of the "City Center Working Group", that this project can now be tackled.

Together with all factions and the city administration, it was possible to acquire funds from the state urban development subsidy.

Monika Uhl describes the new meeting place as the "heart".

Whereby she – quite ambiguously – borrowed something from the railway industry.

"The frog describes the inner part of a switch," says Uhl.

Train station friends see the community meeting as the first step

Anette Völker-Rasor spins the play on words further: "It is now we citizens who are setting the course for the further development of the station by using the core piece." That is exactly what the station friends are hoping for - that the use of the waiting room is only the beginning.

It is up to the people of Penzberg to make use of this offer, "so that this heart pulsates strongly," they explain.

According to Uwe Hermann, the use of the former waiting room for meetings and cultural events is "a promising start after much confusion about the building".