The citizens of the Upper Bavarian community of Schliersee spoke out with a majority of around 56 percent against new plans for a large hotel directly on the inner-city lakeshore. According to the preliminary results from the town hall, 2,115 Schlierseers voted in a referendum on Sunday in favor of a citizens’ petition that essentially only wants to allow such a new building on the same dimensions as the previous Hotel Schlierseer Hof. Only in 1656 could we have made friends with a much larger building.
A family that had bought the already dilapidated Schlierseer Hof 18 years ago from the insolvency estate of the previous owner and had since limited its renovations to only the bare essentials, wanted to have the old hotel and a neighboring building demolished and replace both with a much more massive new building. In view of concerns in the local council and initial protests in the town, she slimmed down her plans, which initially included 148 rooms, in several steps to 112 rooms. It really can’t get any smaller, because especially in the off-season or in bad weather, a small hotel without a modern wellness area and without the restaurants that are also planned is no longer attractive for guests and can therefore not be operated economically over the year. This was the argument of the family and the tourism experts from the region.
The local council had fundamentally approved the plans two years ago, which envisage a ridge height of 24 meters and a facade of around 90 meters in length towards the town. Most local councilors and also Mayor Franz Schnitzenbaumer (CSU) were hoping for additional, wealthy guests who would not only be able to afford the initially targeted room rates of 340 euros per night, but would also generate sales in the often empty local shops.
But as soon as word of the plans got around, many citizens became increasingly concerned about the townscape and the panorama on the lakeshore. Schliersee has so far been characterized by comparatively small buildings. The ambitious Miesbacher Kreis Architecture Forum and the Bavarian State Association for Homeland Preservation also criticized the project because it went beyond all previous standards at Schliersee. A citizens’ initiative had quickly collected around 1,300 signatures for a citizens’ initiative entitled “Preserve Schliersee’s beauty – no mega hotel on the lake” – around twice as many as were necessary to bring about Sunday’s referendum.
On the day of the decision, less than 300 of the 5,700 Schliersee eligible voters came to the town hall to vote in person. Instead, the vast majority of votes had already been received via postal vote. Overall, around two thirds of those eligible to vote took part. The result was only available after 8 p.m. It remains to be seen what will happen next on the site in the best lakeside location.