Alexander Dobrindt: Was it a fun jump or is it a jump affair?

Created: 06/22/2022Updated: 06/22/2022, 2:30 p.m

By: Bernhard Jepsen

Controversial jump: CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt (2nd from left) at the festival in the "Rigi-Rutsch'n", to his left Mayor Frank Zellner.

© Jepsen

At the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the "Rigi-Rutsch'n" Alexander Dobrindt jumped from the five-meter tower to applause from the audience.

Was it a pure "fun leap" by the CSU state group leader in the Bundestag or a PR campaign with a political dimension?

There is a lot of discussion behind the scenes about this.

Peißenberg

– “Encore, encore” yelled the large audience in the outdoor pool jumping stadium when Alexander Dobrindt climbed out of the water after his first jump from the “Five”.

Of course, the head of the CSU state group enjoyed the "dip in the crowd" on the day of the celebration - and jumped off the diving board again.

Before that, he had announced via microphone what a "sensational birthday" the "Rigi-Rutsch'n", which opened in 1982, would be celebrating.

In the aftermath, Dobrindt explained to the Tagblatt that his jump, together with Mayor Frank Zellner (CSU) and Peter Blome (SPD), who was recruited at short notice, and new municipal works manager Stefan Ziegler, was "great fun" that "people obviously liked". .

A political ulterior motive?

"No," says Dobrindt: "I don't need something like that for my ego."

But in the local political environment and also among many sympathizers of the "Rigi-Rutsch'n", who campaigned vehemently for the continued existence, especially after the big fire in 2016, you see it differently.

Nobody wants to comment publicly on the “jump affair”.

Nobody wants to be dismissed as a "fun killer".

But the resentment is great.

The CSU, it is said behind closed doors, would have misused the anniversary for PR purposes.

If a member of the Bundestag jumps from the "five" with an announcement via microphone and live commentary (Stefan Rießenberger), then that is always associated with publicity - and that was also wanted.

The board of directors of the municipal utilities responsible for the spa park had explicitly agreed not to give any political group a stage at the celebrations - and certainly not the CSU.

When it comes to the Baederpark, many are not on good terms with the Christsozialen.

Where does that come from?

The outdoor pool has always been a highly sensitive political issue.

A look back: When the construction of the heated outdoor pool was decided in a special session on February 28, 1980, there was a 16:9 vote in favor of the 12.2 million D-Mark project.

While the SPD parliamentary group raised their hand for the outdoor pool, the nine no votes were only given by members of the CSU parliamentary group.

Only Eugen Trautmann, Franz Kreitmair and Hans Schleicher deviated from the faction majority.

The annals show that outside the municipal council, the Junge Union and the local CSU branch in particular shot sharply against the construction of the open-air pool - although the concerns were not unfounded from today's perspective.

The Union camp warned of the high follow-up costs.

And indeed: the pool park deficit is a permanent problem.

The municipal utilities recently applied to the market for higher loss compensation payments.

But the fact is: if the CSU team at the time had had their way, there would be no outdoor pool today – and no “five” from which you could have jumped off.

In retrospect, the years from 1990 to 2008 are also viewed critically – i.e. the term of office of former mayor Hermann Schnitzer (CSU).

In his era little or nothing was invested in the further development of the bathroom.

For cost reasons, converting it into a natural outdoor pool was also discussed, which did not go down well with the die-hard "Rigi-Slip'n" fans.

Just as little as the behavior of the market council faction of "CSU/Unaffiliated" in 2016 after the fire in the Baederpark restaurant.

At a "Pro-Rigi-Rutsch'n" rally on Rathausplatz in the run-up to a municipal council meeting, the Christian Socialists holed up in the meeting room.

Many bathing park sympathizers have not forgotten that either.

And then there is the more recent past: When the baths park slipped into a federal funding program in 2021, it was Frank Zellner who received the grant notification from Dobrindt, perfectly staged in front of the Reichstag dome in Berlin.

Municipal plant manager Ingrid Haberl, who had prepared the extensive subsidy documents with her team and the market treasury, only found out about it when asked by the press.

In a statement, Dobrindt also stated that the new slide system, namely the "Frank Zellner slide", would soon be inaugurated.

Ultimately just a joke, but Haberl still finds the bold naming “overreaching”: “The municipal utilities are still the owners of the bathroom,” she emphasizes.

The municipal company (KU) found it difficult to deal with Dobrindt regarding the holiday.

The member of the Bundestag has campaigned for the pool in terms of funding approval (around two million euros).

The KU is grateful for that.

According to Haberl, Dobrindt should first say greetings at the ceremony, but again not according to the board of directors' agreement.

And the jump from the "five"?

"We live in a democracy," says Haberl: "Everyone can jump off the five in the outdoor pool.

I can't forbid him to do it." The KU boss regrets the "subsequent disharmony": "But I don't want to hang myself on it.

It was supposed to be a celebration for the people of Peißenberg.” However, Haberl didn’t think it was a good thing that Dobrindt – if not during the ceremony – addressed the bathers via the external microphones before his jump:

"But the political professionals can't get out of their skins." There are different accounts of how far the agreements in the board of directors went: "It was all about the speeches," explains Zellner when asked.

The jump action with Dobrindt was the redemption of a promise that both would have made at a CSU New Year's reception: "If we hadn't jumped," says Zellner, "then it would have meant that we pinched." In contrast to previous CSU generations Zellner made a clear commitment to preserving the "Rigi-Rutsch'n" as a family pool: "It's very important to me."

Dobrindt, who used to be a member of the market council himself, affirms that the "Rigi-Rutsch'n" has always been an "affair of the heart" for him.

Because "too little was invested in the bathroom" in the past, he drew the attention of the works and the municipality to the support program.

The outdoor pool will not be politically instrumentalized from his side.

According to Dobrindt, anyone who wanted could have jumped in at the anniversary of the "Fifth".