In the morning it is quiet in Schönau am Königsee. Hardly anyone is on the street in the small neighborhood settlement on the outskirts of the community. Excavators are on the slope, but nobody is sitting in them. A garden has become a single gravel pit. A swing sits a little crooked on the stones – abandoned. A trampoline hangs in a tree.
This morning, around half past six in the morning, nothing stirs. It’s the silence after the cleanup – and before.
Schönau am Königsee was particularly hard hit
Schönau am Königssee has been particularly hard hit by the heavy rain and flooding since Saturday evening. The world-famous bobsleigh run was destroyed, torn away by mud and water. Around the Königsseer Ache, people had to leave their homes, just like here, in the small western part of the community.
Here on Saturday evening, mud, water and gravel rolled down the mountain and penetrated deep into several houses. People have now been allowed back into their homes, but three buildings are still uninhabitable.
Clean-up has started
The neighborhood started cleaning up yesterday. He shoveled all night, reports a local resident to the BR. And Peter Huber was still lucky. With him the mud only ran into the garden, the house remained intact.
But his neighbors were hit hard. An excavator shovels mud through a door there from what was probably once the living room. All you can see is a large farmer’s cupboard. Pages of a book protrude from the mud. Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke. Except that words cannot bring the house back, as it would have been possible in the novel. Peter Huber says: “We are only finished when the whole settlement is free of mud again.”
People help each other
As the morning progresses, more and more people come to the place. They want to help, bring shovels and buckets. Others sit in the excavators and load one shovel after the other onto the loading area of vans.
Hansi drives up in a small van. He works for the local brewery. He has boxes of drinks with him: water, juice, spritzer, beer. “When something like this happens, of course we all stick together,” he says. And he could help with drinks.
Lively village community: “Of course we all stick together”
Residents told the BR about how many people would help. Peter Huber says: “People have shoveled here, I’ve never seen them before.” Monika says: “I get goose bumps.”
In addition to friends and acquaintances, the fire brigade and THW continue to provide support. About 70 people are on duty. From the morning onwards, 50 soldiers from the Mountain Infantry Battalion will also arrive. They help to clean up and secure the place.
Fight against time
All help is needed for the people. Because they shovel against time. The head of operations Sebastian Walch explains to the BR: “We have to go on”, because when the mud is dry, it becomes hard as concrete and then it is “no more fun.”
It also depends on how great the damage will be. That is still unclear. One thing is certain, however: for some people here in Schönau it is about their existence. They hope for quick support.