What does the blue and red tiger want on the town hall square? A few days ago, Cornelia Nikel received a surprising animal visit. The operator of Café Lani in Unterhaching welcomed the mascot Fonsi of the gaming association to her outdoor area. She can use lucky charms. Nikel is experiencing remarkable solidarity in the community. Because a handful of residents apparently want to drive them out of the town hall square and are not afraid to file complaints and harass them with complaints. She’s not the only one getting angry from the neighbors.
The small café in the town center is popular with the residents of Unterhaching. Especially when the weather is nice, people enjoy a cappuccino or a coffee with milk in the open air in a central location, and a few seniors also like to meet up at Cornelia Nikel for a chat in the morning. She loves her job and has put a lot of time and money into her café. So this could be a wonderful thing to liven up the place. The municipality has been trying to do this with great effort for decades and could now succeed. If only it weren’t for a few local residents.
The café on the town hall square goes against the grain of a few owners of the surrounding apartments. They feel disturbed and would prefer it if it locked again. The guests are too loud for them, the walkers of elderly customers block the passage and even moving chairs gets on their nerves. Nikel has already received countless complaints. All anonymous. She reports property damage and insults. “They want me to go away,” says Nikel.
Cornelia Nikel has been running Café Lani since 2016.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
There has already been a mediation appointment before the district court in Munich. “There I found out that one of the spokesmen doesn’t live here at all, but only rented the apartment, and the tenants have nothing against me,” says Nikel. It was finally agreed that the café would only be allowed to serve outside until 7 p.m., inside at 8 p.m. That may surprise you. Because while Nikel has since folded the umbrellas in the early evening and their guests have to have emptied the last glass, the schnitzel and the beer are still being served opposite. The reason is an old declaration of division of the property.
The gastronomy on the square was planned from the beginning
There are three restaurants on Rathausplatz. The Wirthaus Althaching, the Indian restaurant Ganesha on the one hand and since 2016 the Café Lani. This is not surprising, as it was planned from the start when the town center was built in the early 1980s. The only difference: On the corner where the café is located, a shop was originally planned, but the gastronomy next to it in the much larger premises that the adult education center has been using for ages. This change of use had been made years ago, long before Cornelia Nikel started serving coffee and cakes here.
Anyone who believed that disputes would be over with mediation was wrong. The harassment continues. “Lists are kept of when the last guest left, and every step is photographed,” reports Nikel. When she told a guest that business was not going well because of Corona, a passer-by who heard that called out to her: “That’s good!” But she doesn’t want to give up. On the contrary. She is considering organizing service from the Indian restaurant on fine evenings after 7 p.m. There they promised her a cooperation.
Since the community of owners, to which around 180 parties belong, did not want to accept the use of the area directly in front of the café, Nikel moved its outdoor area a few meters further directly onto the square. This area belongs to the municipality and has been provided with a wooden floor and bordered on about 35 square meters. “We want to promote gastronomy,” says City Hall spokesman Simon Hötzl. The fact that residents have been complaining about noise pollution for years is a well-known problem for him. “Even after the mediation, I see a lot of conflicts, the dispute hasn’t been settled. I think that’s a shame,” says Hötzl.
The official chooses his words very carefully. “We’re trying to help find a solution.” The town hall itself has already received resentment from the residents because the fountain on the square supposedly splashed too loudly and the fountain was annoying. The municipality has noticeably reduced the water jet. Now she was accused of felling trees so that Café Lani could have an outdoor area. “The trees had to go because they were rotten,” explains Hötzl. More trees may soon be hit, as there is an underground car park under the square.
“We are in the process of redesigning the entire square,” says Hötzl. In doing so, one will probably also deviate from the previous concept of accommodating the gastronomy only in the arcades. “It’s about making better use of the space.” The community is happy if the town center is better accepted, because many shops are always empty and the fluctuation of tradespeople is high. “The revitalization is also about social control, it makes our local center safer,” says Hötzl. Hötzl, because he is also the economics officer for the municipality, has one of the above-mentioned residents to complain about because of his approval of the bar area. It says he favored the café operator with tax money. Hötzl remains calm. “That doesn’t make me nervous, I’m the manager of the town center revitalization project,” there are resolutions by the municipal council.
Apparently, some residents don’t just find the café disturbing. According to Nikel, parents of children who play on green spaces in the town center are threatened that a flower pot could accidentally fall off. A 96-year-old woman who is driven directly to the hairdresser every three weeks has also been sued. Officially, you are only allowed to drive into the pedestrian zone for delivery until 11 a.m. As the hairdresser confirms, a court recently decided in favor of the customer.
Despite all the trouble, what makes the café owner Cornelia Nikel confident is the great popularity she is currently receiving. Mascot Fonsi wasn’t the first to drop in on her. “Many new guests came to support me.” At their request, a list of signatures for the preservation of the café is now available. An online petition has also been launched.