Wolfgang Porsche: Salzburg approved private tunnels for his villa

A controversial construction project by Wolfgang Porsche in the center of the Austrian city of Salzburg has made an important step with the approval of a city committee. A committee of the municipal council, which is responsible for spatial planning, approved a planned underground car park under the property of the Porsche supervisory board. The project also includes a 500-meter-long private tunnel, which is to be drilled into the Kapuzinerberg as an access.

Greens and Communists rejected the decision. They argued that the tunnel must also be approved in this case, even if this was usually not necessary for access routes. The Social Democratic SPÖ, the conservative ÖVP and the right FPÖ approved the project without the tunnel separate.

However, the project is not yet dry: the city’s decision still has to be presented to the state of Salzburg. Martin Zauner (FPÖ), who is responsible for spatial planning in the state government, has signaled that he is fundamentally positive about the underground access to the historically important villa. “The construction industry is supported, a cultural asset is preserved and all of this is financed purely privately,” he told the “Salzburger Nachrichten”.

The 82 -year -old Porsche has a property on the Kapuzinerberg, in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sister Nannerl once gave piano lessons. The author Stefan Zweig (“Chess Novel”) lived there about 100 years ago. The above -ground access road is considered narrow and impractical.

In April, activists protested the tunnel. More than 19,000 people have signed a petition against the construction. This speaks of a “special treatment for super rich” and a “symbol of social injustice”.

Porsche has not yet publicly commented on the matter. The 82-year-old is a grandson of the automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche. He is the supervisory board head of Porsche Automobil Holding SE and Porsche AG. It also sits on the supervisory boards of Volkswagen and Audi.