The White Horse Inn case

“Destruction”: citizens call public prosecutors

The preparatory work for the demolition has already begun.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The time will probably come in the next few days: the listed White Horse Inn in Gries am Brenner in Tyrol will be demolished. Citizens have tried in vain to prevent this. The authorities and owners have been sharply criticized. The citizens' initiative believes that not everything was done properly. 

Desperate citizens recently stood up to the excavators with their bare fists to prevent the demolition of the Weißes Rössl on Brennerstraße after all. After two years of dispute between the owner and the heritage office, the regional administrative court ordered the demolition in February because the building was clearly beyond saving after a fire in May 2023.

Neither the heritage office nor the citizens' initiative believe that a total demolition is necessary. They are supported by the architects Klaus Mathoy, Gerald Gaigg and Evelyn Achhorner (FPÖ-LA). They met again on Sunday. It was agreed to ask the Public Prosecutor's Office for Economic Affairs and Corruption to examine the actions of the authorities - in particular the district administration - with regard to the demolition order for criminal offenses.

Secondly, the citizens' initiative wants to ask the public prosecutor's office in Innsbruck to examine the role of the owner "in the lasting destruction of the architectural monument", as they say. A complaint has also been filed with the executive for the destruction of a listed building.