Esterbergalm: Garmisch-Partenkirchen would like to sell a piece of jewellery

Created: 06/22/2022, 04:49 am

By: Andreas Seiler

Popular destination: the Esterbergalm on the plateau between Wank and Hohem Fricken.

© Kornatz

The Esterbergalm is a popular destination near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The market community is now planning to sell the listed farmstead, including the surrounding meadows and pastures, to the Partenkirchen pasture cooperative.

This should, according to the reasoning, ensure long-term preservation.

A not uncontroversial project.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – The envisaged real estate deal is making waves behind the scenes of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen political establishment.

"You don't just give up such a creamy plot of land," complain the critics.

They do not want to be named.

The explosive topic has so far only been dealt with behind closed doors - and discussed controversially.

Details are not known.

But one thing is certain: in the non-public part of the most recent meeting, a majority of the municipal council prevailed and set the course for the sale of the managed Esterbergalm (1262 meters) to the Partenkirchen pasture cooperative.

This was confirmed on request by Mayor Elisabeth Koch (CSU).

Municipal property since the 16th century

The small farm with mountain inn, idyllically situated on a plateau between Wank and Hohem Fricken, has been owned by the community since the 16th century and is very popular with hikers and mountain bikers.

Allegedly, various purchase price variants, each amounting to several hundred thousand euros, are under discussion - depending on general conditions such as the management of the Esterbergweg.

The package also includes around 26 hectares of grassland.

The 85-strong pasture cooperative had submitted a corresponding application and primarily referred to the preservation of tradition.

"The purchase of the Esterberghof is an existentially important measure for the preservation of our mountain agriculture," the letter reads.

It is the only farm in the Werdenfelser Land region that is still in its original form, explains the first chairman, Joseph Grasegger.

"We are afraid that it will fall into the wrong hands." And in his eyes, the pasture cooperative also has a historical claim that goes back to the separation of the political community from the early community around 1900.

At that time, explains Grasegger, who researched the history books, it was overlooked or neglected to transfer ownership of the property, including the grazing rights, to the grazing comrades.

Nothing has been finally decided yet.

In the municipal council, only a kind of declaration of intent was formulated.

Now it's the lawyers' turn.

You have to draw up a purchase agreement, which is presented to the local council and has to be approved.

Above all, the resale to third parties should be excluded, for example, should the pasture cooperative dissolve.

In this worst case, it must be ensured that the property reverts to the municipality.

"The Esterbergalm is a jewel."

The question of the motives of the market is exciting.

The idea is not entirely new.

Even ex-mayor Thomas Schmid toyed with turning the Esterbergalm into money.

It is therefore not surprising that some people in the village speculate that the silverware is being peddled here in order to at least feed the ailing household a little.

Nonsense, replies the acting head of town hall, Koch.

It's about sustainability.

“The Esterbergalm is a jewel.

It must be secured at all times," emphasizes the CSU politician.

And the pasture comrades are the best guarantors for this.

Because: "The cooperative has eternal life." Koch advocates using the proceeds as earmarked special assets - for the preservation of nature and rural agriculture.

It is noteworthy that the municipal council dropped the option of a heritable building regulation - apparently the favorite in the preliminary discussions in the main and finance committees.

Grasegger and his colleagues insisted on buying it.

In this way, so they argue, more is achieved and invested - a view that apparently convinced Koch and the majority of the municipal council.

"Ownership obliges," emphasizes Grasegger.

You also have better cards with banks to get attractive loans.

The pasture comrades have big plans for the property: Like the community, they want to lease it, open a small show dairy and increasingly market regional products.

The current tenant Toni Simon, who has been responsible for the Alm for 19 years, does not want to continue and says he has canceled his contract.

He does not agree at all with the envisaged solution: "For me, that is not a basis." His fear: If a cooperative were the landlady, too many people would get involved.

"I see problems." In the municipality, on the other hand, he only has one contact person.

"It worked great." By the way: Simon closed the Esterbergalm during the "hot phase" of the G7 summit (20th to 29th June inclusive).

"No one is coming," he says, referring to the many restrictions.