New Tenant Wanted

Prospects for a Fresh Start at the Iconic Bar

The Sichtbar has been closed for two months following bankruptcy.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Following bankruptcy and disputes with the former tenant, multi-restaurant owner Suat Aslan is once again looking for an operator for the Sichtbar in Grieskirchen. The once-popular nightlife spot is set to become the heart of the town once more. 

Two months after its forced closure, signs are emerging in Grieskirchen that the Sichtbar—known far beyond the town’s borders—will reopen. On July 7, the lights went out at the nightclub perched above the rooftops of Kirchenplatz. After six and a half years, tenant Marcel Märzinger had filed for bankruptcy. Bar owner Suat “Assi” Aslan had had enough and announced plans to build a penthouse. “After many discussions with the city, I’ve now decided to look for a new tenant. They won’t have to shell out a lot of money, but they will have to pay a transfer fee,” says the successful multi-restaurant owner, hoping once again for a stroke of good luck.

“I had that in 2015, when Gerda Nimmervoll took over the venue from me. She put the icing on the cake of a success story and made the Sichtbar a heart of the city. That’s what the Sichtbar should become again,” explains Aslan. Nimmervoll ran the bar for five years before leaving Grieskirchen for personal reasons. In 2020, Märzinger—then 20 years old—took over the bar. The start was off to a rocky start. Due to the pandemic, normal operations weren’t possible for nearly two years.

Restaurant owner since 1994
This was followed by rising costs, which ultimately drove Märzinger into bankruptcy. “As a restaurateur, you have to constantly stay on top of the business—that’s how you make it work,” says Aslan. He should know. In 1994, people laughed at him when he opened Upper Austria’s second kebab stand across the street from the “Poly.” Through tireless hard work, he made his breakthrough and went on to run the Segafredo, the Sichtbar, and the Campo.