They say the internet never forgets. Neither does Trattoria San Michele, whose menu can still be found online. Fusilli with artichokes and risotto with asparagus are advertised there, although the restaurant in Berg am Laim has long since closed. There are still signs from the trattoria on Baumkirchner Straße that are covered in moss everywhere. She moved out of the old Mahlerhaus more than five years ago, and the listed building has been empty for just as long. The city council has now decided that it wants to keep the inherited house.
This decision sounds easier than it has been. She was preceded by a complicated inheritance matter that dragged on for years. The farmhouse was bequeathed to the city by the previous owner Luise Mahler. Mahler died in 2007 and had stipulated in her will that the building and land would become the property of the city ten years after her death. She also decided that a day-care center should be housed in the Mahlerhaus. A generous donation that threatened to fail due to the course of life and the city’s requirements for such care facilities.
The city could have transferred ownership of the house in 2017. The third executor is already involved in the distribution of Mahler’s estate, because two notaries had died in the meantime – which additionally slowed down the negotiations. The city accepted the legacy in principle in 2019, but has since been working on the details so that the building can be legally incorporated into the existing building.
The Mahlerhaus has been empty for more than five years – that’s when the Trattoria San Michele moved out.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
The house dates from the second half of the 19th century, a time when Berg am Laim was connected to the big city by a railway line and brickworks, but was still essentially a farming village. Where the Café Mahlerhaus was later built, there was already a farm – the so-called Gerblhof, which is documented as early as 1593. Small windows, low rooms, steep stairs and retrofitted toilets: The house does not comply with the building regulations or the hygiene guidelines for modern day-care facilities.
The city, as the sponsor of the day-care center, is therefore eliminated, but the Department for Education and Sport could imagine that a parent-child initiative would be accommodated in the Mahlerhaus. This emerges from a draft resolution that the city council dealt with in a non-public session. The following is said about such an initiative: “The minimum size of a group of children is twelve places. The indoor play area required for this is available. In addition to the group adjoining rooms, there is sufficient space for a hallway and cloakroom area, a sanitary area and a kitchen. The necessary open space is available directly at the house.”
Luise Mahler’s adopted son inherited the adjacent property
First of all, however, it has to be renovated, because the more than five years of vacancy have taken their toll on the building. In addition to the conversion, the city may incur other costs. The city has not yet been able to come to an agreement with a descendant, Luise Mahler’s adopted son. He inherited the property that is directly adjacent to the old farmhouse. If the city cannot fulfill the will, the Mahler house also falls to him.
His client does not want to delay an agreement, he is interested in a solution, said Nils Dreier, the adopted son’s lawyer, during a visit in March. Apparently, this also included a cost calculation that the heir sent to the city. He claims to have invested a little more than 120,000 euros in the maintenance of the house since 2017. “The social department does not consider this demand to be justified at this level,” says the draft resolution. The social department therefore sees the negotiations as having failed and has suggested to the city council to press ahead with fulfilling the legacy even without an agreement – a judicial clarification may be necessary. It remains to be seen whether the adopted son will go to court, his lawyer did not respond to a request from the SZ.
The social department now wants to clarify the last points with the executor, says a spokesman. The “legacy fulfillment” is planned in the short term. And so the name Mahler will remain closely linked to Berg am Laim, just as the founder of the property once wished.