Roof open for a year

“Weißes Rössl is the bankruptcy of monument protection”

On May 11, 2023, a fire broke out at the "Weißes Rössl" inn, which is a listed building.(Bild: Birbaumer Christof, Krone KREATIV)

One year after the fire at the Weißes Rössl inn in Gries am Brenner, the roof is still open. The Initiative Denkmalschutz association sees a failure on the part of the authorities and demands action.

The Initiative for the Protection of Historical Monuments is displeased. The reason: last Saturday was the anniversary of the fire at the listed Weißes Rössl inn in Gries. The "Tiroler Krone" reported on it several times.

"The roof is still open, so rain, snow and frost have been able to damage this cultural heritage site unhindered for a whole twelve months," criticize Markus Landerer and Alexander Schmiderer.

Innsbruck's local authority is also barely getting off the ground to save an acutely endangered cultural monument. A declaration of bankruptcy!

Markus Landerer und Alexander Schmiderer

Criticism of the authorities
They refer to Section 31 of the Monument Protection Act, according to which "the district administrative authority should have acted on its own initiative in the event of 'imminent danger' - i.e. immediately after the fire". 

Instead, they waited for the Federal Monuments Office, which only submitted an application for safety measures to the Innsbruck BH on October 4. "And even this authority is barely getting off the ground to save an acutely endangered cultural monument. A declaration of bankruptcy!"

The roof is still open.(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

Association speaks of a "race against time"
 They speak of a "race against time". Because on the one hand, "according to promising media reports, a protective cover could be imminent", while on the other hand, "the worst is still to be expected, as the owner submitted an application to lift the preservation order on 6 November".

Such a revocation could "set a negative example for other endangered cultural monuments", the two warn and call all the more for the Rössl to be saved.