Green island in Schwabing-West: Residents want to save the inner courtyard from construction plans
Created: 07/22/2022, 22:27
By: Julian Limmer
Fear for their trees: The residents of the area on Degenfeldstraße are protesting against a new building.
©Oliver Bodmer
The Bayerische Versicherungskammer wants to develop a courtyard in Schwabing-West – the trees there are to be felled.
The residents of Bonner Platz are fighting for their oasis.
Munich - They came together on their small green island to protest.
Around 25 people who live around the planted inner courtyard near Bonner Platz.
They all fear that their Schwabing-West district – already the most densely populated part of Munich – will soon become even more crowded, that their green oasis will disappear forever.
Because the gap between the houses, where the trees now provide cool shade, is to be closed by a building.
The residents are fighting back – a human chain is planned for today in the inner courtyard.
"Here, an important green space is irretrievably destroyed and the playground for the children is restricted," complains resident Sarah Friedrich (38).
Schwabing-West: Residents are fighting for a green island in the city
The area south of Karl-Theodor-Strasse is to be densified.
It is planned to build two new blocks of flats with a total of 56 apartments and an underground car park in the inner courtyard in the coming years.
According to the concept, 28 trees would have to be felled for this, some of them are over 60 years old.
The developer is Versicherungskammer Bayern.
Despite resistance from residents and the Schwabing-West district committee, the local building commission (LBK) recently decided positively on the preliminary building application.
This means that the construction is permissible according to the planning.
According to the developer, construction should start in 2024 at the earliest, until the final approval is available.
Greens criticize the decision: "An island for the climate is lost through the construction"
The plans are met with criticism: "An island for the climate is lost through the construction," says Marina Burwitz (Greens) from the district committee, who is a resident herself.
The residents fear that the lack of greenery will cause the surrounding area and apartments to heat up much more on hot days.
For older people and children, this is almost unbearable, says Sarah Friedrich: "The aspect of climate change and health protection is completely ignored." What bothers her: "The fact that building rights take precedence over tree rights here." In fact, a survey by the Federal Nature Conservation Agency shows that the city of Munich has lost around 21,600 trees in the past ten years (see Bavaria section).
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Versicherungskammer Bayern justifies building plans
When asked, Versicherungskammer Bayern replied that the area of the originally planned building had already been reduced by around half because of the concerns.
This is intended to preserve part of the recreation area and existing trees.
At least 15 trees are to be replanted to compensate.
Marina Burwitz is skeptical: "The new greenery will never make up for what is lost through construction." Further protests against the project are to follow.
(Julian Limmer)
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