The outskirts let it rip, and many, many are taking part: 150 artists, associations, initiatives and other actors have lined up to drive away the suburban twilight at the Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln district week. Illustrious guests were there: the Well brothers and the Iberl stage, for example, or Bruno Mayer with his “motley overview bike tour” and the belly dance group from the Alten- und Servicezentrum Fürstenried. In addition, there is an impressive information mile for social services, rescue organizations and leisure facilities.
How the cultural department managed to bring everyone under one roof is a feat in itself. Event director Luzia Huber describes how the coordination miracle came about: “Two open preparatory meetings and then a whole series of telephone calls were necessary.” In the circus tent on the festival grounds on Herterichstrasse, Huber was greeted with applause before she could even announce the Austrian cabaret artist Stefan Leonhardsberger. Maybe it has something to do not only with the mega-exuberant program, but also with a generous gesture from the city – free admission, everywhere.
City councilor Micky Wenngatz (SPD) is very impressed by the scene of the great days in the south of Munich. She represents the mayor at the opening and fuels the anticipation of the audience by pointing out that cultural enjoyment “in many forms of expression” is imminent. The motto of the district week (“We do something”) would certainly be fulfilled. The district committee chairman Ludwig Weidinger (CSU) suspects that there was “a lot to do behind the scenes”. At the start of the cultural program, mimin, book author and fun accelerator Constanze Lindner stormed the stage. Her mission: to sweep people into a whirlwind of female misadventures. A nine-year-old interjects: “My dad cooks at our house.”
No celebration without sustainability: With upcycling, broken T-shirts are made into wool that can be used to crochet something new.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
Without the generic terms “sustainability” and “climate” nothing works nowadays, especially not a communally controlled public amusement. A public discussion about “climate change on the doorstep” is just as important as a “climate café” that emerged from the “treff und tee” association. In their “co-workshop” the environmentalists work on topics such as “Goodbye throwaway society” or “From the field to the table in the bin?”. Spokeswoman Andrea Grahm indicates what the main task is: “Address people who want to make a difference and develop projects with us.”
In a way, as a sideline, the District Committee celebrates memorable anniversaries. District 19, which includes Forstenried, Fürstenried and Solln, has broken the 100,000-inhabitant mark. One is now “a big city in a village of millions”, is the proud announcement. In fact, this is long outdated. Population as of December 31, 2022: 101,087. But it’s not really that precise when there’s something to celebrate. The situation is similar with the bold statement that Fürstenried is 60 years old. Just as little Rome was built in a day, so little was the district built in a year.
Nobody knows that better than Rosemarie Merkl. She lived there around 1960. “Back then there was nothing but fields, the Wittelsbach family’s hunting lodge, an old Schwaige, Olympiastraße and a record factory,” she recalls. At that time she was at home on the premises of the “Tempo” sound carrier area, because her father worked there as a works manager. The construction of the satellite town of Fürstenried dragged on “until the 1970s,” says Merkl. “First came Fürstenried-Ost, then Fürstenried-West.”
The cowboy club shows how to swing the lasso correctly.
(Photo: Catherine Hess)
The cultural highlights of the district week, which lasts until June 21, include photo exhibitions and the “Open Studio Days”. Painters of all genres show their works. So did Eva Großhennig and Carolin Chevillotte. Both have their workshop at Bleibtreustraße 34 in Solln. They not only work there in an architecturally unusual building, but also produce large-format colors in the most beautiful tradition. Because once lived and worked here Carl Johann Becker-Gundahl, a famous church painter and Art Nouveau draftsman. A street in Munich is named after him.
Rocking part of the three-district festival program this Monday: a “Tribute to the Rolling Stones” concert in the Bürgersaal, Züricher Straße 35. It’s quite possible that the band Black&Blue intoning the hit “You can’t always get what you want”. At this point, however, it is already clear that the contact-promoting district week left little to be desired.