Haar could soon become a city. There is some evidence that the municipal council will decide in its last meeting before the summer break to submit a corresponding application to the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. According to information from the town hall, the topic is on the agenda. As was learned when asked, the initiative goes back to Mayor Andreas Bukowski (CSU). There have already been several internal rounds of talks on the subject. There was cross-party support for such a move. The people of Haar calculate that there is a good chance that an application will be approved. The prerequisites for this are considered to have been met. The community has been growing for many years and has now reached the required size, they say.
In addition to sheer size, the criteria for a city survey include whether essential infrastructure facilities are available on site. Haar also sees itself in a good position with its schools and cultural institutions such as the small theater, although the technical college still resides in temporary rooms and the planned construction of the secondary school is not in sight.
In 2001, Haar had already attempted to make the ascension to the city and ended up belly-flopping. A cross-party initiative by the CSU, SPD and Greens failed at the time because the Interior Ministry rejected the application. The reason given at the time was that Haar, with its 17,000 inhabitants at the time, was too small for a town in the direct catchment area of Munich. There is a risk of setting a precedent that could find many imitators. A good 20 years ago, the ministry named a threshold of 25,000 inhabitants. According to the municipality’s website, Haar currently has 23,000 inhabitants.