Since this week, the cable car to Kampenwand has been stopped for quite some time. As Christmas approaches, the railway, built in 1957, with its nostalgic-looking four-seater gondola will be technically inspected and overhauled, as it does every autumn. During this appeal, the court also started a review scheduled for Tuesday: The Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) heard the second lawsuit filed by the Federal Nature Conservation Association in Bavaria (BN) against the controversial new construction plans for the cable car.
The Munich Administrative Court had canceled the building permit two years ago, relying mainly on legal formalities. The first example is going to Chiemgau, taking the train and going up the mountain. But in the end their verdict seemed dubious not only to the train operator, but also to VGH, which allowed the case to be appealed and must now be tried alone in Munich.
:News from the Bayern editorial team – subscribe now on Whatsapp
From Aschaffenburg to Berchtesgaden: The SZ Bayern team is on the road for you throughout the Free State. This way if you want to receive stories, news and background information directly on your phone.
VGH also had to deal with formal questions first, because the district office in Rosenheim did not just approve the project once. According to the chief judge, the initial approval in 2017 was “not the best thing.” Maybe even illegal. But since no one ever took action against it, it still stands.
The managing family of the Aschau valley town then requested some changes to the plan. The district office once again issued a positive decision in 2022 – this time with more precise specifications regarding nature conservation and the controversial number of special nighttime trips for certain events on the mountain. The first decision recognizes a completely new agreement in this second decision, but VGH sees this only as a change to the first decision, which is why the environmental impact analysis can be omitted.
The strictly protected black grouse, whose habitat is near mountain stations at an altitude of almost 1,500 meters above sea level, may not be worth using such administrative finesse. They probably recognized the mountainous forest in Kampenwand from the aerial photos that court members were playing back and forth on a screen in the hall.
But black grouse are poor fliers. If they fly and view their habitat from above, it is usually because they are being disturbed. And from BN’s point of view, the ongoing disruption and threat to the entire population could come from the large number of additional people who can climb the mountain on the new cable car.
The citizens’ initiative is concerned about worsening traffic jams and a lack of parking spaces in the Priental
Because in the planned rear cabin, about 1,500 people can climb the mountain per hour, more than three times as many as before. And if conservationists had their way, then the hustle and bustle of tourists, mountain climbers, mountain bikers, paragliders and restaurant guests would be too great. Below, the citizens’ initiative is concerned about the worsening traffic jams and lack of parking spaces in Priental.
However, the local council of Aschau once again committed to building a new building before entering into negotiations with a large majority. The mayor and head of tourism sat at the back of the room. And the state government has also campaigned for the project, recently estimated to cost a total of at least 30 million euros, which has at times been sharply criticized by BN.
In a recent report on state cable car funding, a grant of at least ten million euros for the Kampenwandbahn was listed as “politically promised”. This promise came several years ago from the Minister of Economy Hubert Aiwanger (FW). Authorities have even changed the boundaries of “natural forest” in Kampenwand twice.
Once they removed an existing cable car line from a natural forest that was then designated. And after the first decision which also referred to natural forests, the Ministry of the Environment adjusted the boundaries of natural forests with a wider route plan. Rosenheim BN district chairman Rainer Auer denounced this as shameful “special economics.”
For the operator’s lawyer, the “natural forest” category established by the Free State in 2020 in response to the successful species protection referendum “has no legal relevance,” and for its chairman, the category is at best “a very soft instrument”: “I don’t know how to understand the legislature either.”
The court rejected BN’s application for a new report on black grouse, and capercaillie and alpine salamanders also did not stand in the way of a new cable car with sufficient legal details. Although there is a certain trend in favor of new construction, the courts do not give a final verdict. First, everyone involved should make another effort to reach a non-judgmental agreement on the protection of black grouse, the maximum number of passengers, and the length of the night trip. In the end, both BN and the authorities and train operators agreed to the effort.
