In Lower Bavaria there is a dispute over the name of a motorway junction that is not even finished. Two Bavarian municipalities are now fighting for the sovereignty of interpretation – and Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer interferes.
Gloss of
Maximilian Gerl
Whether it’s Hans-Meiser-Straße in Bayreuth or the Willi-Sachs-Stadion in Schweinfurt: Many Bavarian municipalities have already grappled with the question of politically correct place and street names. Such arguments with history are important, but are usually tough for everyone involved – also because the controversial objects have often been to be found under the usual name for decades. Seen in this way, the Rottal deserves credit for the fact that it now supplements the well-known name dispute with a refreshing perspective. The stumbling block doesn’t even exist there.
The motorway junction in the Passau district, which will then connect the A 3 and the A 94, will only be ready in a few years. But as it is supposed to be called, local politics is already arguing about this today; even if not directly, but via Bavarian radio. The community of Neuhaus am Inn registers claims to the name, after all, the cross is mostly on its ground. The combination of Neuhaus-Schärding is preferred as a sign of growing closer together with the neighboring Austrian town.
In the neighboring Bavarian town of Pocking, this is considered a crazy idea. First, the existing motorway exit is called Pocking. Second, they also have a share of a few kilometers in the project. And thirdly, the Austrians sued against the motorway toll and refused border controls at the former Suben crossing. Or as the mayor of Pockingen put it in the BR: “As a thank you, we should now name our motorway junction after Schärding? For me – to put it politely – this is not a suggestion worth discussing.”
A compromise formula would now be sought in the dispute; a name that does justice to local needs as well as the underlying debate. But wherever neighbors are crossed, a sure instinct is required and an almost Solomonic gift of judgment. So a job for Andreas Scheuer. At the end of the year, the Federal Minister of Transport, who is still in office, wants to discuss “the best solution” in the name dispute with the municipalities. The SZ is happy to submit a suggestion in advance: the “Maut-Gedächtnis-Kreuz Rottal”.
© SZ from 09/21/2021 / mba