Those who are skeptical about progress in transport technology risk malicious remarks. It is then said that such a brakeman was probably stuck in the age of the stagecoach. Different in Solln. Here, on the southern outskirts of the city, the era of horse-drawn cabs has only just come to an end, and only temporarily. Because the carriage, which was taken from its exhibition platform in front of the post office building at Herterichstraße 103, is only going for a “beauty cure”. It is being restored in an Upper Franconian museum workshop.
The weathered body needs a thorough polish. In three to four weeks, the newly prepared vehicle then returns to the place that became his permanent parking space seven years ago. Until then, it will be replaced by a mail carriage, built in 1820, made in Munich. This device was once used to transport letters and parcels along the shores of Lake Starnberg. Later, the sled will have its own display stand on Herterichstrasse.
Collector and restorer Hans-Jörg Wildung is supposed to give the vehicle a “beauty treatment”.
(Photo: Leonhard Simon)
The stagecoach, the postal sleigh – Ottmar Beck likes to direct such relics from the early days of the postal service to Solln and thus voluntarily gives the district museum relevance. Conveniently, the 91-year-old also owns the post office complex on Herterichstrasse, which makes things easier. Beck, who is a civil engineer by profession, is following his professional credo with the permanent exhibition of historical eye-catchers: “You should see the purpose of a building from the outside.”
The Sollner mail coach, built around 150 years ago by the carriage manufacturer Städeli in Chur, Switzerland, made its last journey shortly after the First World War. It led from Wolfratshausen to Reutberg Monastery. The provisional terminus was then that museum at Schloss Kühlenfels in Upper Franconia, where the collector, restorer, riding and carriage driving instructor Hans-Jörg Wildung is now restoring the proud piece.
When he’s done with that, he transports the attraction back to Munich on a low-loader. Because hardly anyone drives through the country high on the yellow car that people love to sing about. Nowadays, who has as much time as Goethe on his trips to Italy? “But also because you need a special driver’s license to drive a horse-drawn carriage, carriage rides are rarely undertaken,” says Beck. And the last functioning single and multiple carriages are certainly not used to transport mail and people at the same time. The cute mini mailbox at the rear has also been out of service for a long time.
The carriage was built in Switzerland 150 years ago.
(Photo: Leonhard Simon)
Before Beck bought the postal coach with the fun number 4711 from the Upper Franconian museum, the hobby postilion from Solln had looked around “in about 20 other houses” for such a vehicle. Initially, he did not come to an agreement with anyone, mainly because collections prefer to keep their exhibits themselves and prefer to buy them rather than sell them. Beck also encountered granite in Regensburg: “Gloria von Thurn und Taxis, she gives nothing.” After a long search, he found what he was looking for in Franconian Switzerland, where people showed understanding for his desire for an original post facade design. Beck had already demonstrated this tendency with a mural at this point. It shows, of course, a postman in action.
Putting your stamp on the post office in Solln is “really fun,” says Beck. Its tenants, Deutsche Post AG, the Postbank and the residents of the Postlerheim, should also be pleased with the colourful, museum-like sprinkles in the concrete gray. And they may offer a little comfort to the customers who sometimes find themselves in queues that reach to the sidewalk.
Beck’s postal passion costs a lot. The raised carriage platform alone cost 35,000 euros; Collectors prefer to keep quiet about the true value of antiques on wheels and skids. When the carriage returns in new splendor in a few weeks, it will be celebrated with a street festival. It has not yet been decided who will be able to unveil the carriage hidden under a tarpaulin this time. At the celebration of the first presentation in 2016, a Wiesn legend took over the role: Manfred Schauer (“Let’s go at the Schichtl”). History is in the air. The stagecoach age is far from over in Solln.