The decades-long tug-of-war over the Hans-Albers-Villa in Garatshausen is entering a new round. Because the two Tutzingers Lucie Vorlíčková and Stefanie Knittl have turned to the Bavarian state parliament with a petition. They call for the site to be made accessible to the public and not, as planned, to be handed over to the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Through its “Young Academy” it wants to promote young scientific talent there. The petitioners do not recognize the state requirement asserted by the Ministry of Science and consider it to be constructed.
The Hamburg actor Hans Albers (“Great Freedom No. 7”, “On the Reeperbahn at half past midnight”) had chosen the property on the western shore of Lake Starnberg in Garatshausen as his adopted home. He lived here from 1935 to 1939 – and then again after a break from 1946, always together with his partner Hansi Burg. Because Burg was Jewish, she had to hide from the National Socialist captors for several years and flee abroad. But she came back and stayed by his side in Garatshausen until Alber’s death in 1960. After that, Burg lived on the property until her death in 1975.
It is not the first petition for the Albers villa
Incidentally, the two women from Tutzing, Vorlíčková and Knittl, are not the first to turn to the state parliament for help with the Albers villa. The Garatshausen cultural association had already called the petition committee in 2011 and 2019. In 2011, the local association said it had prevented the sale of the property, and in 2019 the petition aimed to place the building, including the park and boathouse, under monument protection. The property has been under protection since January 2020. However, the cultural association has not yet been able to achieve the second essential component of the petitions at the time, namely making the site accessible to the public, admits its treasurer Andreas Kapphan.
Lucie Vorlíčková (right) and Stefanie Knittl want the Albers property to be made publicly accessible.
(Photo: Arlet Ulfers)
A request that the Free State, which bought the property in 1971 for 1.3 million marks from Albers’ longtime partner Hansi Burg, has never complied with, even if this clause is stipulated in the purchase contract. In the contract, which is available to the SZ, it says verbatim: “The buyer applies for exemption from real estate transfer tax (…) after the acquisition is for public recreational purposes.”
This was exactly what triggered the interest of the former tax consultant Vorlíčková, 56, in the case. “In the case of a private individual or an entrepreneur, intentionally misrepresenting the use of a property would result in it being tax evasion,” she says.
A snippet from the purchase contract from 1971 shows that use for “public recreational purposes” was stipulated there.
(Photo: SZ)
The two petitioners want to achieve two things. On the one hand, that after fifty years the property is finally being made accessible to the citizens at fixed opening times for the purpose of the purchase. In her opinion, the Bavarian Palace Administration should take over the operation of the park because it was originally the buyer of the property for the Free State and also already looks after the nearby Lennépark in Feldafing and the Roseninsel. She also wanted the Albers villa to be open to the public. In it, either a permanent exhibition or changing exhibits should be presented and a small public café should be set up. As in the park itself, concerts and open air events are also planned.
For Vorlíčková and Knittl, however, one thing is certain: “The property should not become a bathing area.” After all, you can swim in the nearby Garatshausen outdoor pool. Knittl, 53, who is familiar with building renovation and monument protection issues, assumes that the costs for the renovation will be limited. She estimates that the renovation of the listed, around 180 square meter villa will cost around one million euros. Another 500,000 euros will probably have to be spent on the restoration of the boathouse, which is unique on the lake thanks to its thatched roof.
The petitioners estimate the cost of renovating the thatched boathouse at around EUR 500,000.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
In addition, the petitioners want to ensure that the state parliament does not implement the resolutions it has already made and the announced state requirement in favor of the “Young Academy” of the Technical University of Munich. “We come to the conclusion that the implementation of the state requirements test was not appropriate solely on the basis of the purchase justification of the Free State (,for public recreational purposes’),” the petition reads in full.
Feldafing’s mayor Bernhard Sontheim is quite satisfied with the political decision in favor of the TUM. “The TU Munich has a good concept that can be implemented,” he said. Sontheim does not necessarily mean the same thing as the two petitioners when it comes to opening up. “Opening up the property means for me: It has to be something that can be experienced.” That is also possible for him, for example by being able to look in over a fence. After all, the TUM also plans an occasional open day, concerts and events.
This is not enough for the Garatshausen cultural association. Treasurer Kapphan: “I understand accessibility not only on individual days and individual hours.” As Kapphan explains, a clarifying discussion recently took place between the mayor, the cultural association and university representatives regarding the opening of the Albers property. “We are on a good way.” Incidentally, the 2019 petition from the cultural association, which specifically called for the property to be opened, was also signed by the head of the town hall, Sontheim.
“I don’t allow myself to be put in front of every petition vehicle,” says the mayor
However, he no longer wanted to join the petition of the two women from Tutzing. “I no longer let myself be stretched in front of every petition vehicle,” he said. For Vorlíčková a clear sign that she and her comrade-in-arms have touched a nerve. Because it is simply not okay for Sontheim to make a decision “without involving the democratically elected municipal council” in which the citizens remain locked out.
There were many plans for the property. Much was quickly discarded. In 1978, the Free State handed it over to the Bavarian State Institute for Fisheries. A Bavarian official lived in the building. The US Army is said to have been interested in the approximately 27,000 square meter site. When it became known that the Free State was considering selling the property, resistance arose among the population. The state withdrew from its plan. The community even considered establishing a fine dining restaurant there. But that too was eventually rejected. Last year, the “Respect & Remember Europe” association submitted a usage concept for the Albers villa to the Free State. He wanted to use the property as a German-Jewish meeting place to do preventive work against anti-Semitism. Because where could this happen better than in the couple’s former villa?, said club boss Gabriella Meros. But the Free State had other plans and awarded the contract to the Technical University.
A decision that will be discussed again in view of the new petition. Vorlíčková and Knittl have already contacted the two rapporteurs of the petition. Talks with them are planned. It is not yet clear when exactly the MPs will discuss their petition. Vorlíčková estimates that this will not happen before early March.
For anyone interested in the future of the Albers site, there will be a citizens’ consultation hour on Sunday, February 13, from 3 to 4.30 p.m. at the Albers property, Hans-Albers-Weg 6 (meeting point sign: “Rundweg”). Info: www.albersfueralle.de