The Franciscan Church in Bad Tölz should not become a large concert hall. Gabriele Frei (CSU) had proposed such a dual use on Tuesday evening in the city council and requested a feasibility study for it, provided that the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising had previously signaled their approval. Since the Kurhaus is to be remodeled from mid-2023, it would be important to have “alternative accommodation in the form of a corresponding hall” for the cultural sector, Frei explained. However, the city council rejected their proposal with a narrow majority of eleven to eight votes. Karsten Bauer (CSU) warned that if the study came to the conclusion that the church could be used as a concert hall, this would result in high conversion costs. If dual operation is not possible, the city will do nothing. Bauer’s conclusion: “We can save ourselves the study.”
The future of the popular baroque church was unclear after the Franciscan order left in 2008. The archdiocese, the parish of Maria Himmelfahrt and the city negotiated for a long time about who should take over the church, which was in need of renovation. For a while there was even a desecration of the sacred building in the room, against which many Tölzer defended themselves with a signature campaign. In 2015, the archdiocese finally took over the monastery church for a symbolic amount of one euro. Since then, believers have been able to go to confession there or attend mass on Sunday evenings. Once a month, the tourism ministry invites you to a 20-minute “time for silence” on Mondays.
The place of worship “hasn’t been so heavily frequented with church events for a long time,” Frei argued. Structural measures would be necessary for concert operations, for fire protection for escape routes, for the reopening of the entrance and exit in the monastery building. But the time pressure from the conversion of the Kurhaus would be taken, which should be renovated and get a modern annex. Even after that, the church “with its fantastic organ and excellent acoustics” could remain as a concert hall, said Frei. This creates “a cultural axis in the bathing area”.
Only a few services are held in the old monastery church. Last year it was the scene of an interreligious commemoration of the Corona victims.
(Photo: Harry Wolfsbauer)
Brita Hohenreiter rejected the initiative. The spa director explained that the renovation phases of the Kurhaus were timed in such a way that operations could continue almost seamlessly. Otherwise, cultural organizers would look elsewhere, and a program in the Kurhaus would have to be completely relaunched afterwards. According to Hohenreiter, the sacred building as a large concert hall would also result in “a significant expansion of the program of events in the field of high culture”. The performances of large choral and orchestral works are mostly in deficit. The spa director referred to the Tölz Organ Festival by Sepp van Hüllen. Despite a “program that can hardly be surpassed” in terms of quality, there is only “low demand,” she said. In addition, the necessary conversions for Hohenreiter do not only affect fire protection. It’s also about accessibility, sanitary facilities, stage and sound technology.
The Greens agreed to the application except for Bärbel Weixner, as did Julia Dostthaler and Josef Steigenberger (both CSU). “Bad Tölz lacks some radiance,” said Moritz Saumweber (Greens). In his opinion, the church as a concert hall would be “a lighthouse” for the city. His parliamentary colleague Johann Pfund also called for the idea to be at least examined: “The Franciscan church is more or less unused, I think that’s a shame.”
Mayor Ingo Mehner (CSU) and Willi Streicher (SPD) countered that the city would have to invest a lot of money in someone else’s property. In order to know this, he does not need 10,000 euros for a study, said Streicher. Bad Tölz does need lighthouse projects, but he sees them in the conversion of the Kurhaus or in the expansion of the indoor pool. Christof Botzenhart (CSU) made a similar statement: “It would be much more important to me to create a multifunctional hall in Moraltpark for rock concerts, parties and graduation ceremonies.” Rene Mühlberger warned to be careful with the municipal funds. Finally, projects such as the new nursing home on the Flinthöhe, the Moraltpark or road construction projects are pending. And as far as big concerts are concerned, after all, you have the parish church Maria Himmelfahrt, he says.