October marks the 125th anniversary of the “Royal Gendarmerie Company” being replaced by an equally royal “Protection Team for the Capital and Resident City of Munich” – this resulted in what is now known as the Munich Police Cavalry Squadron. It not only has a long tradition, but also a bright future, as Bavarian Minister of the Interior Joachim Herrmann (CSU) announced on Monday at a media event at the Olympic riding facility in Riem.
The home of the squadron on the extensive grounds in the east of Munich is to be retained, as are the other facilities that various riding and equestrian sport organizations operate there for mass and top-level sport. At the same time, however, new building land is to be created. According to Herrmann, the state government has now “developed a clear concept that equestrian sport can remain at this location and at the same time housing construction can be increased all around”.
When looking for areas for urgently needed apartments, the state capital Munich understandably came across the almost 30 hectare site of “sporting historical importance” (Herrmann), on which the equestrian competitions of the 1972 Olympic Games were held. 90 percent of the area belongs to the Free State of Bavaria, and the Free State of Bavaria agrees in principle with the city leadership, which is governed by the Greens and the SPD, that living space must be created. Herrmann believes that a solution has now been found for all interests: “There are areas that can be made available without affecting the core of the riding facility.” Herrmann did not want to reveal which areas these are and how large they are: the detailed planning is now the task of the city.
Munich’s police chief Thomas Hampel thanked the minister as the bearer of the good news for the “very clear vote in favor of the cavalry squadron”. They are not only maintained for folklore reasons. Despite modern technical aids such as drones, the horses are still “an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle in police work,” assured Hampel, recalling the case of a missing woman who was discovered last year by police riders with severe hypothermia in impassable terrain. The usually two-horsepower police patrols on horseback are also ideal for showing presence in the Isar floodplains.
Gerhard Eck (CSU), former State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and President of the Bavarian Riding and Driving Association based in Riem, praised the state government’s decision to preserve the entire facility, including the 1.5-hectare police station. As Interior Minister Herrmann went on to explain, work can now be done on expanding the cavalry squadron of the entire Bavarian police force. She currently has a total of 66 horses – 41 in Munich, 20 in Nuremberg and five in Rosenheim. “Our goal is”, says Herrmann, “to increase the number of police horses in Bavaria to 100”.