People who dance, bawl, party, close together in pandemic times: Türkenstrasse provided pictures like this on a few evenings last summer. In the meantime it has become quieter in Maxvorstadt, naturally due to the season and temperature. But the calm could be deceptive – at least if you look ahead. Answers from the police and district administration department (KVR) to requests from the citizens’ assembly and to SZ requests show: How things will be in the coming year depends heavily on the pandemic.
“The situation has calmed down,” reports a local resident who wants to remain anonymous. “Now there are only the ‘normal’, occasional disturbances of the peace.” Unlike in “peak times”. At that time, the Maxvorstädter saw “masses of party-goers” on his doorstep. That meant noise at night and then in the morning rubbish, broken glass and other items left behind by the party guests. The then decided measures were not sufficient, thinks the father of the family. The glass ban, for example, had “hardly any effects”. A spokesman for the Munich police assesses this differently: “The concepts implemented this year – rectification and the ban on glass containers – have basically proven their worth.”
Also at hotspots such as Josephsplatz, residents of the district complained about disturbance of the peace and waste. It therefore came as no surprise that several motions on the subject were submitted to the town hall in July. There was a demand for more police presence, a ban on “mobile music systems” in the entire quarter in order to prevent “Ballermannisation”, as well as a ban on gatherings and the restriction of outdoor catering.
It is in the nature of the administrative process that it takes time to get responses to the recommendations of the citizens’ meeting. All the quicker the now available letters of the district administration department are summarized: As far as emergency services on site are concerned, one reacts “adapted to the situation”. All other demands have been examined, but not a single one can be met. In addition, the authority states that with the “beginning of the autumn weather” and the opening of clubs and bars – which are now closing again – “the number of people at the hotspots will be reduced”. When asked, both the district administration department and the police confirm that this assessment has come true with the autumn that has now come about.
The number of complaints has been “in the normal range” since October. It is agreed that the reason for the outdoor parties was “primarily the corona-related restrictions”. This has shifted “leisure time behavior” into public space. It cannot be predicted whether this will happen again in the coming year. According to the regulatory authority, this depends on the “Corona framework conditions”.
The resident of Türkenstrasse is hoping for an end to the pandemic and thus for such “excesses”. If the partying takes place again in front of his own window, then it is clear to him what he will demand again: “clear regulations such as earlier curfew and restrictions on residence and residence”.