2024-08-26 02:02:00
When it started 28 years ago, it was a groundbreaking event. Now there is hope for a reboot. The question is: Will traditional or climate protection methods dominate?
In 1995, the Market Festival was held for the first time in Obertrum. A year later, Bernhard Seidl and Otto Dürager wanted to understand the situation and added a “highlight” to the event: during the market festival (traditionally also Marking the start of the Vlachau harvest festival), they announced the first car-free day around Lake Trummer. Seidl, now deputy mayor of the ÖVP, openly admitted in a video interview with SN-Airstream: “Not everyone is happy about cars being locked out”, but this is no longer a problem, the campaign has matured. “It was an absolutely crazy idea at the time,” recalls Durag, the finance officer of the local tourism association, because 28 years ago banning cars from the lakeside streets was a unique thing. But their success proved them right, which is why the event, now known as Car-Free Day, is still being held, Dulag stressed. He could also give numbers: Police estimated that about 40,000 cyclists, roller skaters and pedestrians were on the roads around Lake Trummer that day, he said. However, both promoters stressed that the idea behind the day was always more about tourism than climate protection. On this day, Dulag said, “there was a unique peace and quiet surrounding the lake.”
The deputy mayor cannot understand criticism that Car-Free Day is now tilted more towards customs and that the event needs a revamp after almost 30 years because: “Customs and environmental protection are not mutually exclusive,” he argued – noting that Agricultural enterprises intact in the region. Seidl also explained that the community has built a large photovoltaic system on the roof with a peak power generation of nearly 400 kilowatts, and its power is also transmitted to the newly established energy community in the Lake District. Otto Dürager also believes that Car-Free Days in their current form have proven successful and demands: “Good things should remain.”
For Michaela Lindner-Fally, a member of the Green Party’s Obertrum Community Council, this is not enough: she demands that further developments must also take place on future Fridays. “The Matthi community left the community a few years ago and as a vegetarian I find it difficult to find food to eat; food should continue to grow,” she said. Therefore, you should think about what you can do new and different in 28 years. They concluded: “This is a tourism activity, but not a climate protection activity.”
Lindner-Fally teaches geography at BORG Oberndorf and hopes to see more discussion about future-oriented mobility on days like this. She said she was very satisfied with the bus service to the city of Salzburg, which she used regularly, but: “The bus service is usually still very sparse on weekends. The frequency could be improved, and in the evening, when you go to the cinema – — or go to the theater, but if you have to wait an hour and a half for a bus, it’s hard to get there at night. The representative also believes that connections to some long-distance trains could be improved, Lindner-Farley said. , the local council is already discussing “last mile” pick-up and drop-off services between public transport stations and your home. As she said and was discussing, taking a bus via Haunsberg in the direction of Oberndorf would also be “an enrichment”. She also sees as a positive the car-sharing service offered by the s.mobil association in Ottertrum, which operates in more than a dozen other Flachgau communities: it is very popular and will replace a second car for some people. Still, “Obertrume is a car community,” Lindner-Farley said, and that has to change.
One of the town’s largest employers is Trummer Brewery – and sustainability has been a big issue for many years. Their master brewer and technical manager Felix Bussler emphasized this in several aspects during the SN interview: For example, an annual balance sheet for public benefit has been prepared since 2016. “Our entire fleet has been converted to electric vehicles; as of this month, we finally have an electric truck,” Basler said. In addition, since the beginning of this year the brewery has completely switched to a reusable bottle concept and has been obtaining heat energy from a local woodchip factory for twelve years. The brewer’s three crowdfunding rounds to raise money from customers to co-finance the company’s rooftop photovoltaic system have been a huge success: “It has a peak output of 650 kW, which means we can be 80% energy self-sufficient.” Said without pride. So are climate-neutral breweries within reach? Bussler: “The goals are clear and the path to get there is realistic.” But it’s also clear that investments will still be required – but those investments must also be financially priced.
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