As of: January 30, 2024, 7:02 a.m
By: Andrea Gräpel
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Work with a view: a total of around 40 reservists cleared gravel from the green areas on the banks of Herrsching on Sunday.
It would have taken us weeks.
Herrsching's building yard manager Josef Mörtl © A. Jaksch
The military arrived on the banks of the Herrschinger lake on Sunday with around 40 women and men.
The Upper Bavaria District Reservist Association called for a voluntary “Kieselstein Action” to help the community repair the storm damage caused in December.
Herrsching
– Last Sunday was one of those sunny Sundays when it felt like the whole of Munich and Augsburg went for a walk along the Herrsching waterfront.
A migration of peoples - and in the middle of it 40 reservists, women and men, who had followed the call for “Aktion Kieselstein”, which Erwin Hantke, Upper Bavaria district chairman in the Bundeswehr Reservist Association, had initiated.
“The district board of Upper Bavaria intends to support the community of Herrsching as part of an association event with a permit to wear uniforms in order to repair some of the storm damage left by storm Zoltan in December,” Hantke announced.
In particular, it was a matter of removing the gravel that the storm had washed onto the green areas and shoveling out benches and disabled access to the lake at the old sports field.
Hantke was a bit disappointed on Thursday because only 20 of the 5,000 members of his district had signed up by then.
On Sunday, however, there were around 40 reservists who took the gravel out of the facility with flat shovels and wheelbarrows, including a colonel and four soldiers from Italy.
The Herrschinger building yard had prepared everything for the campaign early in the morning.
Dozens of wheelbarrows and 25 flat shovels and rakes were waiting in front of the Kurparkschlösschen after Mayor Christian Schiller was able to organize additional equipment at short notice and without any problems at the Schernthaner company in Breitbrunn on Saturday.
The community had initially expected far fewer helpers.
“We basically cleared out their warehouse in Breitbrunn,” jokes construction site manager Josef Mörtl, grateful for the landscaper’s help.
Mörtl and his team had split into two shifts to cart away gravel and the like.
After less than two hours, the first 16 tons of gravel that had been lying on the paths and in the beds were removed from the spa park and transported away.
The facility and the bank at the old sports field appear literally empty.
In total there were probably 40 tons of gravel that the emergency services laboriously collected, documented more or less live and every minute by the mayor on his social media channels.
Since the sunny winter weather attracted thousands of walkers to the lake promenade, the effort did not go unnoticed and led to many conversations and selfies.
A woman from Herrsching, who had not known anything about the event, was almost sad.
She said she would have been happy to support the effort by donating cake.
If the reservists arrived again, she made the mayor promise to let her know in good time.
Klaus Sigl from “Löwenherz Chiosco” also joined in this enthusiasm about the effort at the children’s playground.
Every reservist received a coffee from him on Sunday.
The community took over the rest of the food.
The building yard now has to work the gravel back into the bank.
This has already happened between Seespitz and Ammerseehotel.
“Now we are continuing with the sports field so that people can go swimming here again in the summer,” explains Mörtl.
Both Schiller and his building yard boss were extremely happy about the support.
“We couldn't have done it ourselves.
“It would have taken us weeks,” says Mörtl gratefully.
The mission was not without effort for the reservists: “Tonight we will know what we have done,” said a female reserve soldier, laughing as she passed by.
Erwin Hantke, himself a reserve staff sergeant, was ultimately satisfied with his squad.
He had offered to continue the operation on February 4th.
However, his people did such a good job on Sunday that this is probably not necessary.