“Representative station building for sale,” says the exposé of Deutsche Bahn somewhat succinctly, along with a frontal view of the entrance, photographed at a slight angle and a little out of focus, with a few light spots on the lens. In addition, quite manageable information: property size almost 2600 square meters, renovated last 2008/2009, energy certificate – not mandatory.
Representative, yes, you can probably leave it that way. The station building in Bad Kissingen dates from 1874, is a listed building and has always served guests who come to the traditional spa town to relax. Or as an, well, anything but enthusiastic mayor writes, in the “world heritage city.” Because the station is part of this UNESCO World Heritage Site, the award is not a year old and the railway building was not only part of the application, it was also considered in the award. Now, through the sale, Mayor Dirk Vogel (SPD) fears that the city’s title could be lost again.
In July 2021, Bad Kissingen, along with ten other European cities (including Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and Vichy in Paris), had risen to become the “important spa town in Europe”. A long-awaited award for the city with its many healing springs, historic buildings, foyer and spa gardens. The station is located in a protected zone of the heritage site with a particularly high density of important buildings, open spaces and infrastructure. In the building itself, the “Prince’s Room” is an eye-catcher, a hall that used to be reserved for aristocratic travelers as a lounge and still scores with its splendor today. After all, that hall is mentioned in the DB exposé. The room is “probably the only one of its kind that still exists in Bavaria.” Otherwise no explanation that the station contributed to the Unesco title. Instead, the note that Bad Kissingen can be easily reached via the BAB 7 and 71. The OB is not amused.
So far no response from the railways: the city of Bad Kissingen would like to know how the station building will continue.
(Photo: DB)
He wrote an incendiary letter, which is available to the SZ. Addressed directly to Berlin, for the attention of Berthold Huber, Head of Passenger Transport. The station and the site are “a high-ranking monument and an elementary part of our UNESCO World Heritage Site,” writes Vogel. He gives himself air over two pages: The sale “is apparently to be carried out clandestinely, behind closed doors and bypassing the city.” He writes of a “trust mentality”https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/.”Perhaps,” says Vogel, “you saw the reports on this last year, which can be followed in the Tagesschau.” But the DB and thus the federal government evade responsibility for the legacy.
The train reacts briefly. A spokeswoman says they are in exchange with the city and the sale has been planned for a long time. The municipality also has a right of first refusal. Sounds good, but the city doesn’t want to buy it at all. A spokesman said that you couldn’t simply find the money for a train station in your budget, and that the whole thing had to go through all the committees. The deadline in the exposé was tight: it expired on June 17, 2022. The railways informed about the sales plans a few weeks ago, says the spokesman. However, there was no reaction to municipal interventions and the offer was placed online. Now applies: sale against highest bid.
Did the railway take the Unesco title into account in the offer? No answer to that. But who buys a train station? In fact, such sales are not uncommon. Sometimes old station buildings go to rail-loving private individuals, sometimes physiotherapists set up practices in them or investors build apartments in them, including central locations.
The city is now urging participation in the selection process. The concern: You simply don’t know who could buy the station and what that buyer is up to. Depending on the world heritage could wobble. And a case like Dresden, the city that was spectacularly stripped of its title in 2009 and thus not only lost prestige but also money from the funding pot, one wants to avoid at all costs.