This has not yet been officially confirmed, but municipalities and police are already preparing for another top meeting of the heads of government in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district. A great burden for the region – in addition to another major event.
The Bavarian police and the municipalities in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district are preparing for another G7 summit at Schloss Elmau in June. The responsible police headquarters for Upper Bavaria Rosenheim has been trying since last week to reserve all available hotel beds in the area for the necessary security forces. The federal police had previously requested beds for 4,400 police officers, according to the region.
It will be difficult to accommodate so many police officers and the entire summit convoy of support workers and journalists because the Passion Play will also take place in nearby Oberammergau next summer, which was postponed by two years due to the pandemic in 2020 and always binds large hotel contingents.
In any case, the G7 summit next year will again be hosted by the Federal Republic of Germany as scheduled. The fact that it will take place for the second time after 2015 at Elmau Castle at the foot of the Wetterstein Mountains has so far not officially been confirmed by the federal government, the Bavarian State Chancellery, the District Office in Garmisch-Partenkirchen or the communities concerned. This would first and foremost be a matter for the Federal Government – and in the general opinion of the future rather than the current one, which has only been in office since the Bundestag election at the end of September.
In 2015, pictures of the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel and the then US President Barack Obama on a bench in front of Elmau Castle went around the world as well as photos of Obama at the beer table with traditional costume people from Krün. The fact that the federal government could choose the same conference location twice with Schloss Elmau is considered unusual, but could have something to do with a comparatively short-term rescheduling.
The Elmauer Valley is considered to be easy to shield and secure because of its remoteness in the middle of the mountains, whereby the experience with the 2015 summit could also help. At that time the protests were limited, but the world situation has changed significantly since then. For the local communities, which are currently groaning under the weight of the dominant corona pandemic, such a new G7 summit in Elmau would nevertheless be a major challenge in view of a short preparation time of a little more than half a year. At least the municipality of Krün doesn’t need new roads and canals like before the first Elmau summit.