Potential for conflict on Lake Starnberg: Are stricter rules necessary?

Created: 08/13/2022, 16:00

By: Tobias Gmach

A lot of traffic is the norm on Lake Starnberg - both in the shore area and far outside.

I counted 41 boats in the 300m zone in one afternoon.

Andreas von Poschinger, lakeside residents from Berg © ANDREA JAKSCH

Are consideration and common sense still enough?

Or are stricter rules necessary on Lake Starnberg to avoid serious accidents and other conflicts?

A mood picture of the traffic on the lake.

District - How did this happen?

How could a relatively small motorboat run over and fatally injure a swimmer in Germany's fifth largest lake?

That's what many asked after the tragic accident of the 32-year-old from Munich on July 31.

The question is justified - but one can also ask: Did something like this have to happen at some point?

With the leisure pressure that makes Lake Starnberg narrower for everyone - for swimmers, stand-up paddlers, sailors, surfers, rowers, rubber dinghy, motor, electric boat and passenger ship drivers.

Here is the most neutral and diplomatic answer first, from District Administrator Stefan Frey.

He sees “very different interests”.

He does not want to make the rules on the lake “dependent on an individual case”.

One could think about an adjustment of the Bavarian shipping regulations, in which they are written.

But whether it's a speed limit, a driver's license requirement or upper limits for boats: the district has nothing to report because the lake belongs to the Free State.

Swimmers run over by a motor boat in Lake Starnberg: the body was recovered

280 motor boats are allowed on it, it can't be more.

You have to wait eight to ten years for a permit.

But the number of electric boats has now climbed to more than 1,600, and there is no upper limit.

But it's high time for that, says Andreas von Poschinger.

The 66-year-old is a lake resident, he owns a bathhouse with a jetty in Berg and, according to his own statements, has already had “lively correspondence with the district office and the responsible ministries”.

He would phase out the combustion engine approvals completely ("What an anachronism in the age of e-mobility") and limit the performance of the e-boats.

Once von Poschinger sat down at his jetty with a laser range finder.

"I counted 41 boats in the 300 meter zone - in one afternoon," he says.

Regarding the rules: According to the shipping regulations, motor boats are only allowed to take the shortest route in the zone, i.e. at right angles, to the shore or away from there.

And only at 10 km/h – maximum.

Outside the zone, the speed limit is 40.

"The fastest have to be the most considerate," says Christian Kellner.

The 55-year-old is a four-time German sailing champion from Seefeld and travels to Lake Starnberg or Lake Ammer every week.

He thinks it would be good if the boats were to be limited because, according to his observations, many people don't stick to the speed limit.

No one is flashed by the water police, and there is no obligation to have a driver's license either: even someone who has never driven can rent a boat with high horsepower or KW.

The rental boats are a major problem for waiters: “When the weather is nice, they are on the lake all the time, while private boats are out maybe once a week,” he says.

How dangerous is swimming in Bavarian lakes?

"The busier the lake, the more violations there are," says Chief Inspector Kai Motschmann.

He admits that how much is checked depends heavily on the staffing situation of the officers.

District Administrator Frey also notes that the size of the lake cannot be overlooked.

Therefore, the following figures are not too meaningful.

In 2018, the district office registered 92 violations, in 2019 there were only 38, in 2020 61 again and last year 34. According to spokesman Stefan Diebl, the most common administrative offenses were: driving without a permit, not keeping the minimum distance, driving a motor without reason (sailors are allowed to use their two-stroke slack slides only to return to port and after sunset) "and very rarely: alcohol".

Motschmann also mentions electric motors,

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Speaking of the environment: The sailor Kellner, a member of the Bund Naturschutz, warns against the waves of fast boats that also slosh into spawning areas.

Corona has increased the leisure pressure overall.

Not only Oliver Jauch, spokesman for the Starnberg water rescue service, observed this.

“2020, when many couldn't or didn't want to travel abroad, was the peak.

I don't have the impression that it has decreased significantly since then," he says.

Shipyard operator sees "unreasonableness on both sides"

Some complain about motorized racers, others about those who swim in the middle of the lake without a buoy or escort boat.

Ernst Simmerding, who runs a shipyard in Leoni, sees "irrationality on both sides" and could get upset about SUP drivers "who lie on their boards at night without lights".

If Simmerding has to get close to shore with his work boat to repair other boats or buoys, he has to be "very careful".

Sometimes he takes a colleague with him "to scare away swimmers".

He himself would "never moor in bathing areas at the jetty, but some do," he says.

And: "If there's a little swell, you won't see the heads."

Thomas Goetzke rents out electric boats in Possenhofen, which he says can travel at a maximum speed of 10 km/h.

"We take each guest out and back in again to see if they're smart," he says.

In addition, the customers would receive a lot of information - about the rules and that they should not drive near the rose island, not create anywhere and generally be considerate.

"We're world champions in regulation anyway," says Goetzke.

His wife Nicola is also in favor of more personal responsibility and against more regulations: "Then that applies to the majority who are reasonable."

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By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Starnberg newsletter.

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