8303 signatures were collected for the citizens' request for the preservation of the two hospitals in Weilheim and Schongau.
If you look at the regional distribution, it quickly becomes clear that the protest is very local.
County – Verification of signatures is ongoing.
But even if not all 8303 are approved in the end, one can assume that the necessary 5500 signatures, which are necessary for a citizens' petition at district level, will be reached.
It is the first ever in the Weilheim-Schongau district.
The Pro-Hospital Schongau action alliance, which initiated the collection of signatures, made it a point from the outset to have a presence with its stands throughout the district.
After all, the aim was not a citizens' initiative at the city level, but at the district level.
However, if you look at the regional distribution of the supporters, there is definitely a problem for the initiators of the citizens' initiative.
Because it only found really broad support in the Schongau area.
In Schongau itself, 2,354 people signed the citizen petition lists.
With a population of around 12,400, that is around a fifth of the total population.
In Burggen (1,700 inhabitants), almost every third person signed (549).
In Peiting, not even every tenth person supports the referendum
The figures also look good in Altenstadt (3300 inhabitants, 466 signatures) and Steingaden (2921 inhabitants, 562 signatures).
But even in Peiting, just a stone's throw from Schongau, the citizens' initiative received significantly less support.
With 11,600 inhabitants, 952 signatures came together here - not even one in ten supported the referendum.
The situation in the Weilheim area is even clearer.
In the district town, the citizens' petition was only able to collect 275 signatures, although information stands were regularly present here.
This corresponds to a little more than one hundredth of the population.
In Bernried, with 2,400 inhabitants, there were just two supporters for the citizens' initiative, in Raisting four, in Antdorf and Eberfing five each.
Why is that?
Although the citizens' initiative ran across the district, concerns about the idea of building a central hospital are greatest in the Schongau area.
There is a promise from those responsible that an outpatient center should be set up in what is now the Schongau hospital.
However, the chances that the city of Schongau will be awarded the contract as the site for the new central hospital are – to put it mildly – slim.
So for the people of Schongau it's really about whether they will still have a hospital in the future or not.
In the Weilheim and Peißenberg area (12,700 inhabitants, 194 signatures), the debate can be followed in a much more relaxed manner.
Because the county seat and the market town both applied as locations and probably have very good chances of being awarded the contract.
Expert opinion recommends a location between Peißenberg and Weilheim
Finally, in the report recommending the construction of a central hospital, a location between Peißenberg and Weilheim was clearly recommended.
In contrast to the residents of the Schongau region, who would then have to go to Landsberg, Peißenberg or Weilheim in case of doubt, they know that they only need a few minutes at most to get to the central hospital.
It is likely to be even more difficult for the initiators of the citizens' initiative to mobilize the residents of the Penzberg area.
They have nothing to do with the hospital GmbH since the hospital in Penzberg was sold to the Starnberg Clinic.
This is also clearly shown by the numbers of supporters of the citizens' initiative: With 16,600 inhabitants of the city of Penzberg, just 152 signatures came together.
You can find more current news from the region around Schongau at Merkur.de/Schongau.
