The two neighboring districts of Munich and Ebersberg have one thing in common: there are two cities each, Garching and Unterschleißheim, as well as Grafing and Ebersberg. But in Munich there could perhaps soon be a third city, recently the majority of the Haar municipal council declared that they would rather be a city council, after all they represent the fourth largest municipality in the district of Munich. In Ebersberg there are even three municipalities that are larger than the largest town in their district, which by the way doesn’t have the same name as the district itself: Vaterstetten, Poing and – albeit just barely – Markt Schwaben. So are there also ambitions for a city survey? A call to the mayors.
Will Leonhard Spitzauer soon be mayor of the city of Vaterstetten?
(Photo: Christian Endt)
With – the latest status of the State Statistical Office is at the beginning of last year – exactly 24,789 people live in Vaterstetten, which is a good 3,000 more people than the neighbors in Haar, who want to try to get the city survey. A suggestion that he took note of with great interest, says Vaterstetten’s mayor Leonhard Spitzauer (CSU) – but doesn’t necessarily want to imitate it for his own community. Even from the ranks of the municipal council, at least so far no one has come with the demand for a city of Vaterstetten. “We have enough other things to do,” he says, with a view to the many pending investments in geothermal energy, schools and the new town hall and town center that have been planned for decades.
The mayor muses, although the latter in particular could one day promote the promotion of Vaterstetten to the city. Because currently there would be no city center at all. But it could be some time before something like this emerges, says Spitzauer. And even if in many years’ time Vaterstetten were to bear the title of town – nothing would change as a result, because these days there are no longer any special rights or obligations associated with it.
Does Thomas Stark, Mayor of Poing, have ambitions for the city of the second largest district municipality?
(Photo: Christian Endt)
The second largest district municipality of Poing is – as of the beginning of 2021 – with 16,096 inhabitants a good deal smaller than what may soon be the third city in the district of Munich, but there are still almost 2,200 more people living here than in Grafing. Mayor Thomas Stark (independent), like his counterpart in Vaterstetten, has no intention of contesting the rank of the largest city in the district – although he finds the idea of a city of Poing “very charming”.
Poing is getting bigger and bigger, here is a picture of the latest building area from last autumn. Is that enough for the city?
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
However, Stark tends to rule out the possibility that the community will take steps in this direction in the foreseeable future. “We wouldn’t have any of that.” Except maybe effort, after all, a municipality that wants to call itself a city would have to meet certain requirements and prove, for example, that it fulfills national functions – for example as a government location, which Poing is not. In terms of size, the mayor thinks that his municipality is quite suitable for a city, after all there are also cities with significantly fewer inhabitants than the growing municipality in the north of the district. At least Stark does not want to rule out the topic of urban development completely: If, for example, the Ministry of the Interior now came up with the idea that Poing should better become a city, the mayor would not be expected to object.
Michael Stolze is the mayor of Markt Schwaben, which is at least a little bit larger than the town of Grafing. Shouldn’t you be able to call yourself a city?
(Photo: Christian Endt)
As the third-largest district municipality with a population of 13,820 at the turn of the year 2020/2021 – that is exactly 15 people more than lived in Grafing on the reporting date – Markt Schwaben would also actually be an option for a city survey. The answer from Mayor Michael Stolze (independent) is very clear: a clear no. Although there is a clear center in the market town and historically Markt Schwaben was even once the main town of the district including the seat of the court, the city elevation is not on the agenda.
Around the Markt Schwabener Bahnhof it looks quite urban.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
It is already quite well filled with the upcoming tasks of the coming years – among other things, the community is currently building a new school center. In addition, Stolze, like his counterparts in the southwest, points out that a new name on the place name sign will not change anything for the municipality apart from this one. So is there no chance for a Stadt Markt Schwaben? “Once we’ve settled all the other issues, then you could think about it.”