Over for the traditional brewery - "Stay in operation until the last day"
Created: 12/16/2022 2:03 p.m
By: Annette Schlegl
Not only will the brewery's coat of arms have to go in 2023, but also ten buildings and halls on the site.
Only the listed buildings will not be demolished.
© michael chic
The owner of the Pfungstadt brewery has informed his staff about the closure of the business.
The end will come in the coming year.
Pfungstadt – The end of the Pfungstadt brewery is probably sealed.
Brewery owner Uwe Lauer informed his almost 70-strong workforce at a works meeting on Wednesday that the company will close next year and that the site must be handed over to the property owner Conceptaplan by December 31, 2023.
The investor wants to build apartments there.
According to brewery manager Peter Winter, no layoffs have been made yet, but they will follow, reports fr.de.
A large majority of the city councilors voted against citizens' petitions and citizen surveys
The bad news for the employees was preceded by a turbulent parliamentary session on Monday, at which the Pfungstadt city councilors rejected the citizens' initiative to keep the brewery for legal reasons by a large majority.
The decisive factor was a formal error;
the deadline for submitting the request had been exceeded.
According to Peter Winter, Mayor Patrick Koch (SPD) was of the opinion that the more than 4,600 signatures collected nevertheless reflect the will of the citizens and therefore suggested a public survey on the brewery.
An independent opinion research institute should have obtained the opinion of the population.
But this move was not desired by the parliamentary majority either.
"All six groups except for five SPD loyalists voted against Koch's request," says Winter.
It was frightening for him and many of the brewery employees present to see how unanimous the city councilors were on Monday.
Relocation of the Pfungstadt brewery not feasible from the point of view of the owner
Brewery owner Lauer made it clear to his staff on Wednesday that it was no longer possible to continue in this form.
"We have to see if there is still a solution," says Managing Director Winter.
There is currently no other property that Lauer could consider for a brewery relocation.
The city had proposed a greenfield plot of land to the brewery, but it would take years to get building and pollution control permits, Winter said.
"If we have a product demolition and don't deliver for half a year, the brand is dead," he makes clear.
The protest by the citizens' initiative came to nothing because the statutory eight-week deadline for submitting the citizens' petition was not met.
© michael chic
In addition, there are water rights and a certified mineral well on the current site, which is missing on the planned area.
There are certainly other areas in Pfungstadt on which apartments can be built, Winter told FR.
"Most of the employees told me on Thursday morning that they would stay in the company until the last day," says Winter.
Some explained that their parents and grandparents had already worked in the brewery;
it has existed for 191 years.
Investor wants to build rental and condominium apartments on the brewery site
The investor Conceptaplan announced in a statement that the rejection of the citizens' request was seen as "a clear mandate to continue the good cooperation with the city council and the administration of Pfungstadt." According to Managing Director Thomas Grimann, the company paid several million.
Now the way is clear, even if his company is still in the middle of the development plan process and does not yet have building rights.
Unfortunately, Pfungstadt's Mayor Patrick Koch could not be reached on Thursday before the editorial deadline.
(Annette Schlegel)
