Railway expansion near Aßling: Last chord for instrument makers – Ebersberg

Quirin Kaiser’s confidence is dwindling. Six months ago, the probability that the expansion of the northern access to the Brenner Pass would affect him and his business in the Niclasreuth district of Aßling was 25 percent. But even then he was worried about the property on the other side of the village street, where he actually wants to build his new workshop. Or wanted to build.

After the decision in favor of the Limone route, the future of the traditional company is in the stars

After the decision by Deutsche Bahn in favor of the Limone route, the future of the traditional company is finally in the stars. At least the future of Aßling, where the Ziachkaiser is at home and where the great-grandfather founded the company in 1891, which is known throughout the Oberland for its Styrian Quetsch’n. Not only the accordion production, but also the normal carpentry works well, so well that Kaiser actually wanted to expand his company. The new workshop was planned exactly where the Limone route is now to run.

He wanted to create more space for his employees, more space to employ apprentices and journeymen. Just this week he had to turn down four applications, says Kaiser. He also had to tell a journeyman carpenter who wanted to learn how to press in addition to his carpentry training. “I’m sorry, I can’t.” And that at a time when young people are urgently needed in the trades.

The carpenter and instrument maker can hardly save himself from applicants for an apprenticeship. In the workshop, however, it has already become far too cramped for the employees who already work here.

(Photo: Christian Endt)

“We’re completely up in the air now,” says the young company boss, and that won’t change in the foreseeable future. Preliminary talks had been held for the property in question, which is almost directly opposite the existing workshop. In a barter transaction, it was to become his property. Now it would be time for the municipality to draw up a development plan. “By 2025 we would probably have the development plan, but I would have to pay for it myself,” explains Kaiser. In 2025, however, the final decision will also be made in the Bundestag on the construction of the route in the direction of the Brenner Pass. Limone would walk right past the establishment. when she’s done By then – there is currently talk of 2040 – there would be a construction site for a long time.

Of course, the case at the railway is known, just as people in Aßling know that they don’t know what to do with the Ziachkaiser. “I haven’t heard anything from the mayor since the route was decided,” complains Quirin Kaiser, who is not on good terms with Aßling’s town hall chief, Hans Fent. In any case, he hasn’t received any clear statements so far, and he can’t really make sense of what the project manager for the railway, Christian Tradler, has told him. If he had planned something on the affected property, the railways “would not put any obstacles in his way,” he quotes Tradler as saying. And then?

Limone route through the district of Ebersberg: precision work is required - not just for the accordions, but also in the showroom.  Carpentry is done in our own carpentry shop.

Customization is required – not only for the accordions, but also in the showroom. Carpentry is done in our own carpentry shop.

(Photo: Christian Endt)

Anyone who has ever been to the Ziachkaiser’s workshop, in the sales room, in the relatively new showroom will get an idea of ​​the flair that he not only shows when building his Quetsch’n, but also when furnishing his rooms. Accordion building is not just about music, it has a lot to do with aesthetics, with a love of ornament and detail. And so the rooms around the workshop are lovingly furnished, roughly hewn wall stones, visible and tangible ceiling beams, solid wood. The new workplace should have complemented all of that in the long run. “But everything is at a standstill for my company at the moment. We are blocked for five to ten years.”

An inquiry at the railway shows that in the conversation described by Kaiser only the legal situation was discussed. A railway spokesman explains that he can build until the planning approval documents are submitted, and that there is no ban on changes “with regard to construction work by third parties on areas of the future new line construction.” A construction project like that of Kaiser’s workshop could therefore currently be approved. In principle, “there is also a right to compensation if property (land or buildings) is affected by the construction project north of the Brenner Pass and if buildings have to be dismantled”. What that would look like in concrete terms can only be clarified during the planning approval process. Planning, getting approval, building – and then tearing it down again?

Limone route through the district of Ebersberg: the Niclasreuth workshop has been looking south towards the Alps for over 130 years.  But because he doesn't know how his business will continue, Quirin Kaiser would be willing to leave his hometown.

The Niclasreuth workshop has been looking south towards the Alps for over 130 years. But because he doesn’t know how his business will continue, Quirin Kaiser would be willing to leave his hometown.

(Photo: Christian Endt)

“Thank God I didn’t build,” says Quirin Kaiser, who feels left alone with his planning and his traditional business – from the railways as well as from the community. He lives with his family next to his previous workshop. And that’s how it should stay, if he has his way, but now he’s ready to move, with kith and kin, if he could. “At the moment I would prefer a community other than Aßling,” one that could give him security. He spoke to several mayors in the Ebersberg district and outside of it, some of whom offered him plots of land to which he could move his business and residential building. “But I would need a large plot of land for my parents, my family and the workshop, but under the current circumstances that is not possible.”

As far as the railway is concerned, Kaiser shares the criticism of the Limone selection process that had recently been voiced by circles in favor of a route close to the existing route. The railways already have the necessary land on the railway line, and improvements can be made there in the course of the new building, such as making the station barrier-free. Limone, on the other hand, would lead through previously undeveloped plots of land, “common sense should tell you what areas are being destroyed.”

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