In Rotthalmünster in the dean’s office in Passau, Protestant citizens had their own community center for over six decades. Because the parish lacks the capital for the renovation, it will be given up on January 31st. A real estate investor joins.
Dedication of the building on Sunday
The Regensburg regional bishop Klaus Stiegler is dedicating the building, in which there is also a large church, this Sunday. Stiegler expresses his “great respect” for the decision of the Pocking church council, to which Rotthalmünster belongs.
“To divest the community center is very painful for many people. In view of dwindling resources, however, it is right and, above all, forward-looking.” Klaus Stiegler, Protestant regional bishop
The parish has reacted responsibly to the current development and thus also “opened up new possibilities for evangelical work in the Rottal”.
No money for extensive renovation
Pastor Godila Baumann said the renovation costs of the community center would have amounted to three quarters of a million euros. “There wasn’t much to think about. We don’t have the capital.” After the historic building was neither demolished nor was it a listed building, the church council “with a heavy heart” decided to sell it.
Investor wants to build apartments
The new owner of the building and the property is a real estate investor from February 1st. He does not only want to renovate the former Wochinger villa and build apartments. In a second step, the 5,000 square meter property is to be developed and further developed.
Proceeds will be used for church in Pocking
According to the church council, the proceeds from the sale amount to 460,000 euros. The listed Bartning Church in Pocking will be renovated over the next few years. “The proceeds from the sale are then a good cushion,” says Baumann. The church council has already found a worthy place for the sacred objects that are no longer needed. Protestant congregations in Lithuania were happy about this.
Congregational life relocated to Pocking
For decades, the community center was a meeting place for Protestant life in Rotthalmünster, for which Pastor Gerhard Vietzke had laid the foundation since 1945. A denominational school, an evangelical orphanage and a cemetery were built under his aegis. With the arrival of Russian Germans, however, parish life increasingly shifted to Pocking, which today has 3,500 Protestant believers. 300 Protestants still live in Rotthalmünster.
Pastor Baumann reported that until five years ago there was still a whole year of confirmations. With the departure of Pastor Johannes Hesse in early 2019, there was a long vacancy in the room. The second pastor’s position has been filled again since September 2020, but the new pastor Alexandra Popp has already moved into an apartment in Pocking. There would be another service once a month.
Possibly create public space
The investor is considering creating a public space in the former villa. However, this can only be achieved in cooperation with the municipality. “The big question is whether it’s worth it,” says Baumann. Even if the community center is sold, “Protestant life in Rotthalmünster continues”, says Pastor Alexandra Popp. From February the Protestant services would take place in the Catholic parish center and in the Catholic cemetery church.
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