The Würm, a castle, the Villa Rustica: Leutstetten is perhaps the most picturesque of the Starnberg districts. However, the residents do not only see advantages in this.
Leutstetten is considered the jewel among the eight districts of Starnberg: The “royal village” in the north of the district town with its castle attracts legions of day-trippers, especially in summer, who enjoy themselves in the traditional beer garden of the castle restaurant, drive on the Würm or visit the “Villa Rustica ” – a remnant from Roman times – visit. But the idyllic ideal image of an Upper Bavarian village seems increasingly cracked: Problems are caused in particular by the excessive summer leisure traffic and the influx of people. The district loses its face. Some of the problems are entirely home-made. This was made clear on Thursday by the local assembly, which was attended by around 70 residents. The most pressing issues: insufficient bus connections, a missing playground, unresolved path connections and the fate of the old fire station from 1905.
The Schlossgastätte in Leutstetten attracts thousands of visitors with its beer garden every summer.
(Photo: Georgine Treybal/Starnberger SZ)
After a constructive debate, Starnberg’s Deputy Mayor Angelika Kammerl (CSU) and City Architect Stephan Weinl took a number of suggestions to City Hall, but there was also resistance to some of the city’s plans. For example, the proposal for the location of a bus turning area on Wangener Straße near Moosweg fell through: the location in the landscape conservation area chosen by the city with a space requirement of 465 square meters was unsuitable, explained several citizens and representatives of the fire brigade. The area is regularly flooded during heavy rain or thaw and is then impassable. The same problem would also affect the planning for a public playground next to the turning area.
The buses are only full during school hours – otherwise there is mostly emptiness
As a solution from the ranks of the citizens came two proposals that are now being examined: The bus connections should be coordinated with the district office as needed. Apart from the school transport, the buses are “90 percent unoccupied,” it said, so minibuses should also be used in the future. The 904 bus line should no longer run between Wangen and Leutstetten for the new tender in 2024 due to insufficient capacity utilization and poor road connections. Thus, the turning space could be smaller or completely obsolete. Starnberg’s third mayor, Christiane Falk (SPD), put the matter in a nutshell: “If that’s not what we want, we don’t need a turning area.” A piece of land behind the new fire station was suggested as the site for the children’s playground, which had been missing up until now. Kammerl was also enthusiastic about the idea of a village square.
The old fire station from 1905 and the war memorial next to it in Leutstetten are exposed to permanent moisture. Renovation is likely to be complex and expensive, but the city of Starnberg is tight on funds.
(Photo: Nila Thiel/Starnberger SZ)
Meanwhile, the fate of the old fire station remains unclear, according to Xaver Hirschbold (CSU) “one of the most beautiful that still exists”. The fire brigade uses the unheated historical building without electricity as urgently needed storage space. But the condition is critical: Problems – as with the war memorial – are caused by water penetrating from the neighboring property, the statics are endangered. The meeting decided to apply for monument protection for the old fire station – as well as for the memorial stone for the regional reform of 1978 – which, according to Weinl, will not make the matter any easier from a financial point of view: the renovation costs should be at least in the six-figure range.
The situation with wildly parked vehicles in the area of the Würm and in front of the equestrian center on Altostraße is also problematic. The people of Leutstetten are hoping for more support from parking space monitors from Starnberg on sunny summer days, especially since the fire brigade also has a hard time in an emergency. However, one suggestion met with little approval: the installation of mobile toilet facilities on the Würm to enable leisure tourists to relieve themselves.