Visiting the Bavarian Cultural Heritage Foundation at the Forsthaus Valepp in the mountains right on the border with Tyrol gave me a great boost. Foundation officials are to visit the monument to see if the foundation could take over the 1841 forest lodge and lead it into a new future as the seasonal tourist inn it was until 2014. But in addition to a number of representatives of the Bavarian State Forests, who own the sensitive property, the two applicants who sparked the current discussion about the forester’s lodge also came.
The Tegernsee noble restaurateur Johannes Rabl wears a handkerchief, a traditional jacket with velvet lapels and a winning smile. National goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who came up from Tegernsee on his mountain bike, stands by Rabl in a neon-orange training outfit and shorts with a subtle FC Bayern logo. State President Ilse Aigner (CSU) pushed for this big meeting at the Forsthaus – to bring people together, as she says. Because the debate about what should become of the Upper Bavarian mountain idyll has long reached far beyond their constituency of Miesbach.
FC Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and restaurateur Johannes Rabl (from left) want to take over the inn as investors, while Ilse Aigner, President of the State Parliament, is trying to mediate.
(Photo: Matthias Köpf)
When, after initial consultations in the Schliersee municipal council, it became known at the end of last year that Rabl and Neuer wanted to take over the Forsthaus as investors on a long-term lease, some in the region became concerned that the tranquil monument, which was vacant for years and in need of structural renovation, could become a celebrity-driven monument Event location based on the Tegernsee model.
The Federation of Nature Conservation, the Association for the Protection of the Mountain World and the Regional Association for Heritage Care have submitted a petition to the state parliament, according to which the Free State should not leave a high-ranking monument such as the forester’s house to private individuals for the next 99 years who want to accommodate overnight guests there all year round and so on possibly attract even more traffic to the sensitive mountain valley. Instead, the three associations brought the Cultural Heritage Foundation into play, which last year made a significant contribution to protecting the well-known mountain inn at Streichen in Chiemgau from an uncertain fate in the hands of investors.
Some MPs were already in Valepp at the end of March to have the plans of Rabl and Neuer presented to them. Ernst Weidenbusch (CSU) was quite impressed afterwards, while Hans Urban (Greens), for example, would prefer a purely summer operation without overnight stays and would also prefer to block the toll road from Tegernsee to Valepp entirely for private car traffic, as is the case for the narrow road from Spitzingsee has been the case for 40 years. There is no date for deliberation on the petition, but the budget committee of the state parliament has the last word anyway, because the state forests are not allowed to sell anything without its approval or – as here – in the long term leasehold building rights.
View through broken panes: Tyrol begins not far behind the chapel. The chapel is to remain with the state forests, but the so-called Klausenhaus a little below it could also go to the investors.
(Photo: Matthias Köpf)
Rabl and Neuer have long since agreed with the state forests, Miesbach’s district master builder Christian Boiger, in his own words, is following the project precisely and “benevolently”, and the investors have also largely convinced the building committee of the municipal council down in Schliersee with a few improvements and assurances. The councilors did not want to vote on this improved application for a preliminary building permit on Thursday evening before they were formally informed about the attitude of the Cultural Heritage Foundation.
The former President of the Landtag Johann Böhm (CSU) and other board members make numerous inquiries to Rabl on behalf of her and the association associated with her, but at the same time show a certain sympathy for his plans, which Rabl repeatedly describes as a “life project” and Neuer as a “lover’s project”. designated. A long time ago, he got lost on his bike in the Valepp, discovered the forester’s lodge and later spoke to his Tegernsee neighbor and friend Rabl about it, Neuer says. Rabl, on the other hand, who runs the Lieberhof in Tegernsee and the Leeberghof in Neuer’s neighborhood, had previously unsuccessfully tried to get the forester’s house.
Inside, the forester’s house is almost completely empty. Parts of the old interior fittings that did not fall victim to the underground mold and the penetrating moisture have been stored dry by the state forests.
(Photo: Matthias Köpf)
The Forsthaus is about “environmental protection, home protection and monument protection,” says Rabl, speaking of regional craftsmanship and complete climate neutrality. The Forsthaus in Valepp is “not a location that yodels Bavarian”, but captivates with its modesty and simplicity. They want to preserve this, also in the design of the menu and the accommodation for 28 guests.
In the Valepp they will “revive an inn culture that excludes nobody” – not the locals and not the hikers, mountain bikers and tourers who miss the forest house as a place to stop. As far as traffic is concerned, they want to have fewer cars than before and instead only have the road from Spitzing clear for their own e-shuttle.
The location in the mountains is idyllic, but the forester’s house is often difficult to reach, especially in winter, due to the danger of avalanches above the roads.
(Photo: Matthias Köpf)
Of course, Rabl has not yet convinced the three clubs that have jointly appealed to the state parliament. Hans Kornprobst, spokesman for the forest working group at the Bavarian Nature Conservation Union and who was responsible for the forester’s lodge for many years in his professional life as head of the Schliersee forestry office at the time, still clearly opposes the plans of Rabl and Neuer. Accordingly, the BN and the Association for the Protection of the Mountain World are also considering filing a lawsuit against the project. Such a lawsuit would be possible at the earliest against a corresponding building permit from the Miesbach district office.