St. Josef parish center in Karlsfeld is demolished

Created: 06/21/2022, 20:12

By: Thomas Leichsenring

Only the church remains: the St. Josef parish center on Schulstraße in Karlsfeld will be demolished over the course of the next five years.

Some people are already thinking about leaving the church © hab

Over 3000 Catholics in Karlsfeld lose their “home”: the St. Josef parish center is to be demolished.

Karlsfeld – The Archbishop's Ordinariate is still avoiding official confirmation.

But the faithful of the Karlsfeld parish of St. Josef have known for a long time: their parish center is to be demolished.

They have to accept losing their homeland.

A new building or at least a renovation is off the table: The St. Josef parish center on Schulstraße in Karlsfeld is to be demolished.

All buildings are affected, only the church itself remains.

A lot of money could be made by building on the freed-up areas.

Franz Koppold is the church curator of St. Josef.

Koppold reports that he and representatives of the church administration were recently invited to the Archbishop's Ordinariate in Munich.

What was revealed to the small Karlsfeld delegation there hit them like a slap in the face: the Ordinariate announced that a renovation of the St. Josef parish center would no longer be approved.

Instead, a complete dismantling is planned within five years.

You can find more current news from the district of Dachau at Merkur.de/Dachau.

Koppold and his companions were shocked.

"For years we fought for a renovation or a new building," says the church custodian.

This fight began in 2012.

And he seemed to be successful.

According to Koppold, the ordinariate approved 3.5 million euros for the renovation of the parish center.

"The money was frozen."

As a result, the planning was completed, and there is even a building permit.

The next step in the process would have been the public display of the plan.

This will no longer happen, probably for cost reasons.

When asked by the Dachauer Nachrichten, the Archbishop's Ordinariate did not want to confirm that the demolition had already been decided, but did not deny the demolition plans either.

The administrative authority of the archdiocese only wrote that a "viable and affordable solution" should be sought, "with which church life in the parish association can take place well" (see box).

"Sustainable and affordable solution"

The Dachauer Nachrichten contacted the Archbishop's Ordinariate first by telephone and then, as requested, by e-mail.

Among other things, the Heimatzeitung wanted to know whether it was true that the parish center of St. Josef was to be dismantled, whether this was being done for cost reasons, and whether there were any considerations as to how areas freed up after demolition could be used?

The Ordinariate replied by e-mail: “A broad-based meeting is to take place in July, at which representatives from the responsible departments of the Archbishop’s Ordinariate and the Munich pastoral care region of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising will discuss existing options with representatives of the parish swap location.

From the point of view of the Ordinariate, the aim is to find a long-term, sustainable and financially viable solution with which church life in the parish association can take place well.”

In response to the following telephone request to answer the questions specifically, a spokesman for the ordinariate said that the statements made in the e-mail would remain.

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This statement will not reassure anyone in the parish of St. Joseph.

The professorship will only become more concrete – at least publicly – at an information event on July 27th.

Koppold hopes that the Catholics of St. Josef will come to this event in as many numbers as possible.

Because the church administrator does not want to give up yet: "We will do everything to ensure that the parish center is not dismantled, that at least a renovation is approved."

Many people are already thinking about leaving the church

In any case, the parish church will remain standing, the damaged roof was first renovated.

Church services can therefore continue to take place there on Schulstraße.

But that's cold consolation at best, as one veteran parishioner reports: "Many say we're losing our homeland, some are considering leaving the church."

St. Josef last had its own pastor in 2012: Johann Löb.

In December 2013, the parish association was founded under the direction of Pastor Bernd Rümmler - a merger with the parish of St. Anna.

St. Anna is significantly larger with almost 6000 believers.

St. Josef has almost 3100 members.

There is still no statement from the parish association on the demolition plans, as deacon Josef Enthofer explained yesterday: "It's all still so fresh, it has to settle first."