The new pride of the community

On 7. In may 1976, the young market town councilor herbert karmann submitted a proposal to consider the construction of a new town hall in buttenheim and to examine the necessary prerequisites and possibilities. Now his son michael karmann, in his function as buttenheim mayor, could officially commission the new and actually also the first buttenheim town hall.

The construction of the town hall was the subject of much discussion in the past. At first, other projects, such as village renewal, kindergarten and school construction, were more important. When it came to the question of a possible location, various alternatives were considered, but all of them were rejected. In the end, the current municipal council opted for the site in the immediate vicinity of the "old" building buttenheim town hall, originally two teacher’s service apartments, was decided. The new town hall was built on the site of the former schoolhouse, which was built in 1907 and demolished in the 1970s.

Thus this place could be put to a use and the gap in the street space could be closed. The building juts out slightly from the street front of the neighboring buildings, in order to emphasize its special position in the townscape. In addition to the offices and administrative rooms, the space program includes a large and modern citizens’ office, a meeting room for the market town council and about 30 seats for visitors. Now, at last, the necessary social spaces are available and there are meeting rooms that allow, among other things, to settle matters of the burghers discreetly and without listeners.

A modern multifunctional room offers an atmospheric ambience for weddings. With the help of an elevator, all floors can be used barrier-free. Urgently needed storage space has been created for the levi strauss museum. The total area of the building is 800 square meters.

The new town hall has many features of typical regional architecture. Nevertheless, it was not built in a historicist manner and the time of its construction was not denied. On a simple rectangular structure rests a steep tiled roof with short overhangs.

Standing window formats accentuate the solid structure. They are freely rhythmic and create a lively image. The burgerburo on the first floor is accentuated by a stele wall in front of it. The 45-centimeter-thick brick arbor walls are a special feature. Together with the building temperature control and night cooling, they have already ensured pleasant room temperatures during the hot period of this summer.

Regional companies

The planned construction costs of around 2.5 million euros were met or exceeded, despite rising construction prices. Even slightly undercut. These had to be shouldered by the market community alone. The new town hall building was realized with the help of a project contractor. This made it possible to reduce the workload of the town hall administration and to take regional companies into account.

The official opening of the town hall was celebrated on the day of german unification, after all, a new town hall is not an everyday event for a municipality. Numerous guests from politics, society and business came to celebrate the occasion together with the buttenheim burghers.

The church blessing of the new building was provided by pastor mirjam elsel and pastor christian kaiser. In ecumenical unity they asked god’s blessing for the building, for all employees and for all people who come here with their concerns and requests. Reverend elsel spoke, among other things, about the fact that "the town hall is a place where democracy is lived". A thought that was taken up again and again in the various speeches this afternoon.

Mayor michael karmann (zwdg/CSU) was able to bury numerous political representatives, including district administrator johann kalb (CSU) and his deputies johann pfister (BI) and rudiger gerst (CSU) as well as wolfgang metzner (SPD), the third mayor of the city of bamberg. He recapitulated the history of the new town hall and thanked for the smooth progress of the construction site and the timely handover of the building.

His special thanks went to the 37 companies, firms and planners involved in the construction, but also to the town hall’s own employees and the municipal building yard. According to karmann, the resources of the town of buttenheim were used sparingly, and yet a functional and functional town hall building was realized. By handing over the new building to the project contractor KFB, around 90 percent of the value creation could remain in buttenheim and in the region.

Government vice-president thomas engel also congratulated on the new town hall and promised support for the design of the town hall perimeter as part of the city’s urban development plan. Architect christoph gatz thanked all those involved in the construction for their excellent cooperation and for the way in which "it was possible to create a building that suits buttenheim". Instead of the usual symbolic handing over of the keys, he presented a cake in the colors and with the new emblem of buttenheim.

Kisses for the guests

A refreshingly warm and brief greeting came from piera benedetti, the mayor of ronzo chienis, buttenheim’s italian partner municipality. She briefly praised the new town hall, thanked for the invitation, expressed her affection for her colleague from buttenheim and said goodbye with kisses to those present.

The singing group buttenheim under the direction of peter gunther provided the atmospheric musical framework for the official ceremony. The same was done by the children from the kindertagesstatte sonnenschein, who also presented a gift "for the still many bare walls in the town hall" he presented.

After the official part, a colorful program was prepared for families with a puppet theater, a fun train, a carousel, a juggler’s wheel, face painting and balloon figures. There were tours through the new town hall and many visitors were full of praise for the "new and beautiful rooms". There was also a singing performance followed by the presentation of pictures from the painting competition of the deichselbach school. "Fei frankisch gell" entertained the visitors musically.

The women’s association of buttenheim once again provided for the physical well-being of the guests in its usual excellent manner.

The city hall administration has already moved into the building at the end of july and started working there. It is the first project of the planned burger center in the center of buttenheim.

The perimeter of the town hall with the "old" one the town hall, the fire station and the old school building will be built as part of an integrated urban development concept (isdc). First voting discussions and preliminary investigations have already taken place. After the presumed demolition of the old town hall building, among other things, a small forecourt with a stopover character could be created, which invites the citizens to linger. A charging station for e-cars and a charging station for e-bikes are to find their place. In addition, the parking situation must be regulated. In all considerations, the smooth arrival and departure of the buttenheim volunteer fire department must be ensured.

It will be interesting to see how the center of buttenheim develops in the coming years.