An online petition that Erich Gusenbauer started last week to prevent the demolition of the 320-year-old Neuhauser-Hof in the center of Grünbach received more than 800 signatures within six days.
Nikolaus Neuhauser inherited the farm two years ago from the municipality of Grünbach, as well as a savings book and 6000 m² of forest and meadow land, with the wish that the farm should be preserved. However: The building has not been inhabited for years and is in bad shape. So much so that a renovation costing up to one million euros could not be financed with the inherited savings account (190,000 euros), according to the sobering inventory of the municipality, especially since there is no funding from the state of Upper Austria for this. The municipality could not meet Neuhauser’s wish for preservation with the best will in the world, according to Mayor Stefan Weißenböck (VP) recently in an article in the Freistadt Tips issue. Renovation and continued existence of the farm by the municipality would therefore amount to a financial gamble.
With a majority of 10:9 votes (ÖVP in favor – SPÖ and FPÖ against), the municipal council therefore accepted the mayor’s proposal in its June meeting to have the courtyard demolished, as there was an acute danger of collapse and thus imminent danger. The property is to be sold to a developer in order to build around 50 apartments on it. There are already residential buildings in the immediate vicinity of the farm. As a souvenir of the farm and its owner, the municipality can imagine that parts of the house, such as original door frames and old wood, will be used in a public space that will soon be redesigned.
As the heir, the community has a moral obligation to ensure the preservation of the historic building, the oldest part of which dates back to 1699, argues petition initiator Gusenbauer. One could take an example from the Unterkagerer monument in Auberg (Rohrbach district). This is used as a museum, youth hostel and venue for cultural and educational offers.
Source: Nachrichten
