More than eleven years after the first application to the Starnberg City Council, a fitness trail was opened yesterday in the Bucentaur Park. Originally intended primarily for seniors, the six devices can be used across generations from the age of 14.
Starnberg – If you want to see for yourself how important sport and fitness are in old age, all you have to do is talk to Brigitta Biermanski. The 74-year-old from Söcking is not only an endurance runner and fit as the famous sneaker, but also heads the "Lauf 10" program at TSV Starnberg. So there was no question that Brigitta Biermanski was there yesterday morning when Mayor Patrick Janik inaugurated a new fitness trail in the Bucentaur Park. "Anyone can move around and do gymnastics here. There's nothing better than that," Biermanski enthused.
Six devices are now available to everyone between the Nepomukweg and the lakeshore: an expansion tower, an arm pull bar, a "double air walker" to improve endurance, a "track tracer" for stretching, a "balance seat" for training balance and four discs for arm rotation. The plant had "turned out beautifully", said Janik and thanked the depot and the city's building authority, which, together with the Schulz company, have created the foundations, paved the areas and set up the equipment over the past few weeks. Janik's special thanks, however, went to the former city councillor Gerd Weger, on whose initiative the plant goes back.
Nothing came of a boccia court and an open-air chess game
"It was a difficult birth," Weger said, recalling that he had already submitted a first application in February 2012 that after the departure of lake shipping from the area, something would also be created for seniors in addition to the children's playground. In addition to fitness equipment, there was also talk of a boccia court and an open-air chess court, Weger explained. However, when the plans for a park for citizens on the former shipping meadows were presented three years later, this wish was not taken into account by the city administration. Subsequently, the Starnberg Senior Citizens' Meeting and the Starnberg Senior Citizens' Advisory Board also campaigned for the fitness trail. Nevertheless, nothing was going on in the town hall. What's more, Weger even had the feeling that he was being slowed down.
After waiting for almost ten years, he contacted Patrick Janik ten months ago, he said – and he was happy to pick up the ball. "If you want to, some things can be done faster," Weger emphasized. Now he hopes that the devices will bring a lot of fun to as many people as possible.
The fitness facility near the lake cost 46,000 euros - now it is to be used extensively
The city spent 46,000 euros on the plant. Janik emphasized that the devices were not exclusively for seniors, but "across generations for everyone from the age of 14". Now it is important to use them eagerly. According to its director Helmut Kilian, the senior citizens' meeting is considering offering courses on the facility and explaining how to use the equipment correctly. He wanted to get in touch with TSV Starnberg in this regard, Kilian said. Brigitta Biermanski and her running group definitely want to use the equipment. If you're interested, it's quite possible that the 74-year-old will be at the facility for a good hour on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. "And then we go for a swim in the lake," she said.
