"Don't forget the west bank": the association insists on redesigning the old town

Created: 09/30/2022, 06:02

By: Dominik Stallein

Idea and reality: The display board shows what would be possible on the western bank of the Loisach.

The parking lots are still there.

Klaus-Peter Scharf (left) and Ernst Gröbmair from the LAW association would like a makeover.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

The plans have been on the table for nine years and have never been implemented.

The Living Old Town Association would like to see movement around the Loisachufer.

Wolfratshausen - The layman sees parking lots, a lane and two benches along the footpath.

Klaus-Peter Scharf looks at the western bank of the Loisach and sees something that only exists on plans: a pretty city idyll with a playground, shady seating, maybe access to the water and many nice connections to the city.

Scharf is an architect in Wolfratshausen and a member of the board of the association Lebendige Altstadt Wolfratshausen (LAW).

For decades, the association has been insisting on a redesign of the Loisach west bank, and Scharf is doing the same.

Not much happened.

Things have gone quiet around the project.

Very quiet.

Wolfratshausen: "Don't forget the west bank" - the association insists on redesigning the old town

"This topic has been discussed for 40 years," says Scharf.

During this time, little has changed structurally.

However, one little thing catches the eye: since 2014, the association has been presenting plans on a display board showing what the promenade could look like one day.

Many ideas are presented.

According to the 2013 design by Adldinger Architects, the connections between Marktstraße and the west bank should be emphasized more clearly.

A curved bank wall was intended to widen the bank area in some places.

The Loisach would be divided into different areas on this section - with stone balconies, event areas, restaurants, a green promenade, "generous Loisachwiesen" and play facilities for children and adults.

You can read all the news from Wolfratshausen here.

Plans for the Loisachufer in Wolfratshausen: "You could have started already"

It's a big plan. "But there are many small components that could be implemented here," explains Scharf, who runs an architect's office in Wolfratshausen.

He is of the opinion: "One could have already started with some of them." Before the really big step, however, the city council set itself one condition: Before the plan on the west bank of the Loisach is implemented, a replacement for the parking areas must be created currently available on the section.

"There is still no solution for this and it is still used as an excuse," says LAW boss Ernst Gröbmair.

He cannot currently perceive any real movement in the matter.

"But we see it as a necessity that something happens here."

There is plenty of space for cars on the west bank... © Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

... significantly less for pedestrians and cyclists.

© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss

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Upgrading the old town of Wolfratshausen - the association does not want to lose sight of another project

It is clear to the duo that the city has already set itself a major task with the upgrading of the old town in order to improve the quality of stay in this area.

"We know that not everything can be done at once," says Gröbmair - which is understandable given the tight budget situation.

"But the city shouldn't forget the west bank." Just beautifying the Markstraße, but ignoring the entrance on the Loisach, "would mean doing it only halfway," says Gröbmair.

Graduate engineer Scharf sees it similarly: "When the measures in the old town start next year, the city should start planning the bank.

Otherwise the project will falter again.” It wouldn't be the first time, but the duo is concerned “that otherwise it won't be done at all”.

On the other side of the river, the city has at least picked up a few ideas to focus on the flair of the Loisach.

The seating steps on the slope, for example, are used a lot.

"Actually, the people sitting there should look at the beautiful silhouette of the old town," says Scharf.

If you take a seat there today, you can see the town hall and parked cars.

"It's not nice."

“Sensational conditions”: River right on Marktstrasse

Perhaps the previous planning could "be a good basis for citizen participation," says Gröbmair.

The architect's plan has been doing this for nine years now.

At that time, the city had launched an ideas competition.

The winning design by the Wolfratshausen office Adldinger has been on display on the Loisachufer since 2014, right next to the parking lot.

A little has happened since then: the architecture office has been closed since the end of 2018.

"And the board was recently dusted off," says Gröbmair.

According to Gröbmair, the city didn't get too much out of the "sensational conditions" represented by a river directly on Markstrasse.

Scharf doesn't want to lose faith in a redesign of the shore.

The upgrading process in the old town shows that the municipality is ready to spruce up its parlour.

"I think you can be optimistic," says the architect.

The LAW have not forgotten the project, says Gröbmair, "and we will promote it".

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