Protests against a private Porsche tunnel in Salzburg

The plans to build a private tunnel for Wolfgang Porsches Villa in the heart of Salzburg have triggered protests in the Austrian city.

The 81-year-old chairman of the Supervisory Board by Porsche Automobil Holding has a plot of land on the Kapuzinerberg, a historic hill on which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister Nannerl once gave piano lessons. The author Stefan Zweig also lived there about a century ago. The current unearthly access road is narrow and considered impractical.

Under the proposed plan, a 500 meter long tunnel with an underground garage would be built under the mountain to ensure improved access to Porsche’s villa.

On Wednesday, activists developed a banner at the Kapuzinerberg reading: “And Porsche said:” Let it give it a hole “.”

According to the local authority, Porsche paid € 40,000 ($ 45,500) for the construction of the tunnel for public property-a sum, which was viewed by the city commissioned by the city. However, the opponents argue that the fee is far too low in view of the wealth of Porsche.

One of the critics is the activist Tobi Rosswog, who organized the Salzburg Porsche Tunnel Festival and distributed flyers and organized a public discussion this week. The police say that the turnout in the protests has so far been low.

Wolfgang Porsche refused to comment if it was contacted by dpa.

The political resistance to the tunnel includes the Green Party and the Communist Party. “We reject a special treatment for the Superrich,” said Green Party member Ingeborg Haller.

The city council of Salzburg is expected to choose whether the city’s land use plan should be changed so that the tunnel project will continue.

A small protest is also planned for Thursday in the German city of Stuttgart in solidarity with the demonstrations of Salzburg.