Warmth provider

The Bürg­er­haus Land­shut commu­nity centre is intended to be a contact point for everyone in the midst of a social trouble spot. ebm-papst Land­shut is helping with the heating system

An address that is burdened with prej­u­dice: in land­shut, the street of Porsches­traße repre­sents dismal apart­ment blocks, tight living condi­tions and crim­i­nality. An unem­ploy­ment rate of 80 percent is a bleak reality of life here. About 90 percent of the resi­dents have a foreign back­ground – and few prospects.

The project from the land­shut Commu­nity Foun­da­tion, founded three years ago, promises a ray of hope. In the middle of the neigh­bour­hood, ground was broken on October 1 of last year for a commu­nity meeting point. Anke Humpeneder-Graf, the Chair­person of the Foun­da­tion explains: “Our goal is to provide help for self-help. We do not see ourselves primarily as an infor­ma­tion centre. Teenagers, parents, the elderly and chil­dren should have a place to get together, to have a conver­sa­tion, to discover common­al­i­ties, to actively develop new inter­ests and, thereby, to escape the isola­tion of their own four walls.” An ambi­tious goal in view of the multi­tude of prob­lems.

But Humpeneder-graf has already proved her endurance by recruiting spon­sors. This is because the initiative’s 900,000 EUr project could only be realised thanks to the great generosity of local organ­i­sa­tions. Numerous personal contacts opened doors for the dedi­cated woman – and she was even able to quickly convince stefan Brandl, Managing Director at ebm-papst in Land­shut. “Ms Humpeneder-Graf offi­cially got me on board with her dedi­ca­tion and enthu­siasm and we just wanted to be a part of this great project.”

The primary deciding factor for Brandl was the oppor­tu­nity to create prospects for young people from the region. The commu­nity meeting point is being built on the loca­tion which had housed the FC Eintracht association’s head­quar­ters up until now – about 300 meters from ebm-papst as the crow flies. “A win-win situ­a­tion for every­body. The foot­ball asso­ci­a­tion got a new club­house under our roof and we broke the ice with the people in the neigh­bour­hood. The path to our door is well-worn thanks to the connec­tion with the sporting club,” says the Chair­person happily.

ebm-papst is coor­di­nating the project plan­ning and instal­la­tion of the heating system. “After our talk, I imme­di­ately began my search for addi­tional supporters,” reports Brandl. He was able to convince Anton Ober­priller, who took over the instal­la­tion of the system, and the Viess­mann Werke. ebm-papst and Viess­mann are sharing the costs for the 50 kilo­watt gas condensing boiler and the 500 litre hot water storage tank.

The commu­nity centre plans to open its doors in the summer of 2012. “We are ready and are just waiting for the plan­ners to call,” says Brandl. And he is very excited about how the project is devel­oping, because it is not over for him after the instal­la­tion of the heating system. “It’s easy for us to imagine getting involved more when it’s up and running as well, perhaps with a training presen­ta­tion. since, as a large employer in the region, we have a respon­si­bility and would like to give everyone a chance – even the people on Porsches­traße.”