The mayor quickly allayed the greatest concern of some residents: No, Haar will not become the German Cape Canaveral. “Of course, no rocket launches should be able to take place here,” said Andreas Bukowski (CSU) at the beginning of the debate in the municipal council, which was about whether the rocket manufacturer Isar Aerospace from Ottobrunn should be brought to the municipality with its headquarters and production facility. Bukowski has been promoting this for some time. And on Tuesday, with six dissenting votes from the SPD and Greens, the municipal council agreed with a large majority to actually take preparatory planning steps for a settlement on the Finckwiese in the east of the municipality. The talks with the founders of the Ottobrunn space company are to be intensified.
The prospect of bringing what is probably the most exciting start-up in the district of Munich to the site electrified some in Haar and made some take off. A local newsletter distributed free of charge illustrated the message with a photo of a rocket taking off, which some people misunderstood. But apart from the alleged launch site in Haar, which Isar Aerospace has secured for its rockets in Norway for a maiden flight in 2023, the company’s plans actually have substance. Although students only founded the company in 2018, it is now financed with a good 170 million euros. The order books are full. 40 rockets are to be produced each year in order to launch small and medium-sized satellites that could be used, for example, for positioning and weather observation. The market is considered promising. The company needs space.
On the site on the eastern outskirts, 24 meter high buildings could be built
In addition to Haar, Taufkirchen is also in the running, where a decision has already been taken to draw up a development plan, as is Ottobrunn. According to the company, production should be up and running at the new location by 2026. Hair is now another option. As has now become known, Dibag Industriebau AG, as the owner of the Finckwiese, is also negotiating with the company. It is about building rights on an area of six hectares, with a gross floor area of 80,000 square meters and halls with a height of up to 24 meters. Bukowski stressed that no clumsy industrial buildings would be erected. Rather, something should be created that reflects the identity of the space company as so-called “signature architecture”. These belong to smart young people who are also thinking about sustainable energy and mobility concepts for the location. For employees there, it is “natural not to use a car”.
Representatives of Isar Aerospace recently reported to the municipal councils about such things, after Bukowski had only experienced a crash landing when he was already trying to bring about a positive fundamental decision on the company settlement in the construction committee at the beginning of June. At the request of the Greens, the item flew off the agenda at the time. Now the local councilors felt better informed, although the critics did not remain silent. SPD faction leader Thomas Fäth complained that he considered buildings up to 24 meters high to be too massive. For the latter, Fäth received a shake of the head from the CSU. The SPD, of all people, for which “no high-rise building can be high enough”, is talking about buildings that are too high, said CSU spokesman Dietrich Keymer.
The company of the company founders Josef Fleischmann, Markus Brandl and Daniel Metzler (from left) currently resides in Ottobrunn.
(Photo: Isar Aerospace)
The key question for Haar anyway is whether and when trade tax can be expected from the company. The till in the town hall is empty and the prospects are bleak since the pharmaceutical company MSD, the most important taxpayer, turned his back on Haar. Fäth expressed the fear that in the rapidly changing space division it could quickly happen that a billionaire would buy such a young company and taxes would then be due elsewhere. Ton van Lier (Greens) warned that a company like Isar Aerospace, which is currently being set up, would not pay trade tax because of expected depreciation. The community could go away empty-handed for up to 20 years or more.
But Mayor Bukowski does not see the community in a position to engage in such mind games. He said the situation had been thoroughly explored. “We approached large companies.” Many just downsized. You could wait a long time before Siemens or Allianz settled in Haar. “We can’t wait for Prince Charming.” Isar Aerospace is an exciting company that brings attractive jobs to Haar and can also attract other companies, said Bukowski. A settlement could give an “impulse”.
The optimists, who expect a lot of positive things in the medium term, kept the upper hand. Whether the Haarer offer will ignite is open. “We can only try to be the best,” said CSU man Keymer. In the end, one criterion should also be the trade tax rate: Taufkirchen is tempting with the fact that the assessment rate will drop from 310 to 250 percent in 2024. With a multiplier of 350 percent, Haar has a much worse hand.