A provocative postcard campaign provides topics for discussion in the Loisachtal.
The artist Martin Schuster does not want them to be understood as a carnival joke, but rather to encourage people to think about the climate crisis.
Mayors find the manner distasteful.
Schlehdorf/Kochel am See – 500 households, mainly in Schlehdorf and Kochel and in the Murnau area, have received a postcard since the beginning of February.
On the front you can see a photo montage: The church in Iffeldorf in front of a mountain backdrop with a bucket wheel excavator, as used in lignite mining.
The excavator is crossed out with a yellow cross - the same symbol that was also used in the protest in front of the village of Lützerath that was demolished.
It is the sign used by climate activists in reference to “Day X”.
False news: Places are to be cleared
On the back is a text addressed to Prime Minister Markus Söder, because this card should be sent to him.
The text reads: “Dear Prime Minister!
From usually well-informed circles it has leaked to us here that the power plant operators Uniper and RWE are planning, with the approval of the Bavarian state government, to resume coal mining in the Oberland.
To do this, places like Großweil, Iffeldorf, Schlehdorf, Penzberg and Kochel would have to be at least partially cleared, as is now happening in Lützerath.
We therefore ask you to stop this plan and instead allow more wind power plants, promote photovoltaics, etc., because we only have this one home planet."
Artist: "Want to strengthen social interaction through irritation"
What sounds like a carnival joke at first is, however, serious to the initiators.
The artist Johannes Volkmann from Murnau and Martin Schuster from Schlehdorf are behind the project, which can be found on the Internet at www.zusammenkunst.com.
According to Volkmann, they see themselves as "collaborators" who "want to constructively strengthen social interaction in public space through irritation," says Volkmann about the basic work.
Martin Schuster is responsible for the postcard campaign.
He distributed the 500 postcards himself, another 500 are to follow shortly and be posted in Benediktbeuern, Bichl and Penzberg.
Schuster thinks that the energy transition in the Oberland is progressing too slowly.
He deliberately made the connection to Uniper, which operates the Walchensee power plant in Kochel.
"Because Uniper is responsible for coal-fired power plants in North Rhine-Westphalia."
"Card could possibly be misunderstood"
"We have to do more here," says Schlehdorfer.
That's why he chose the approach of addressing the demolition of villages.
Asked about spreading fake news, Schuster says the card "could possibly be misunderstood."
That was "difficult to catch" for him.
However, he assumes that the citizens, if they would talk about it, "it will already be clear that this is not true".
Schuster says he takes that risk.
He would like more to be done in the region for the energy transition - for example with photovoltaic fields as is now planned in Schlehdorf or with wind power.
In addition, the municipalities and mayors should do more, for example set up citizens' meetings where people can deal with sustainability.
He has received positive feedback on his campaign so far, says Schuster.
"Some people are shocked at first, but then a conversation always develops."
Uniper: "Irresponsible to scare citizens with false statements"
The mayors of Schlehdorf and Kochel as well as the company Uniper condemn the action.
"We were horrified to read these 'postcards'," says Theodoros Reumessel, Uniper's press spokesman.
“The projects that our company is also subordinate to were pulled out of thin air.
There are no such intentions or plans.” From his point of view, it is “irresponsible to startle and unsettle citizens with such false statements”.
With the action, "democratic institutions and companies would be denigrated and damaged," said Reumessel.
Mayors from Schlehdorf and Kochel sharply condemn the action
Schlehdorf's Mayor Stefan Jocher speaks of "absolutely absurd nonsense" in relation to the resumption of opencast mining in the Loisachtal.
“The action only unsettles.
That's not how you reach people.” A limit was also crossed for Kochel's mayor Thomas Holz.
"The end doesn't justify all the means," he says.
Stoking up fear with a photo montage and using Lützerath as an example is “not particularly sensitive and inappropriate at the moment,” says Holz.
You can find more current news from the region around Bad Tölz at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.
