Administrative courts confirm: Salzlandkreis is acting in full compliance with the law at Schachtsee Wolmirsleben

Caravans on 21 plots of the campsite had been massively expanded. The safety distances specified for fire protection could not be maintained. There is no access for the fire brigade and no water supply for firefighting in an emergency. This means that a fire can spread extremely quickly, as the example at Barleber Lake near Magdeburg in 2024 showed. The fire spread quickly due to the dense development, the fire brigade reported to MDR at the time. In addition, 16 mobile homes were built on the shore of the lake and another 19 mobile homes on the campsite – without the appropriate building permits. To this end, massive changes were made to the shore that are not in line with nature conservation and water law requirements. All these changes meant that the Salzlandkreis district, as the responsible building supervisory authority, had to take action to avert danger. According to registration certificates, some people even lived in the mobile homes permanently at times. However, this is not permitted on campsites.

The campsite at Schachtsee Wolmirsleben has existed for decades. However, there was no reason for the Salzland district to inspect the area until 2022. The municipality of Egelner Mulde asked for support at the time because the campsite was being used by so-called Irish travellers at the invitation of the campsite operator and there was massive anger among the population. Since then and until the ban on use was enforced in 2024 due to a lack of cooperation with the campsite operator, the Salzland district had always offered solutions to all parties involved. If everyone had seriously followed these suggestions, the ban on use that had been threatened for two years might not have had to be implemented.

Protection was out of the question because the changes to the campsite up to 2022 were so massive.

Fire safety regulations must be complied with, if only to protect property. Although a number of campers have shown insight during the consultations, the essential requirements have not been met: unhindered access to the site for the fire brigade, set-up areas for the fire brigade and an extinguishing water supply. The municipality of Wolmirsleben should also have created the legal planning requirements to properly designate the area as a campsite. According to the building inspectorate's research, this had never been done despite decades of existence. For the development plan, in turn, proper conditions must be established on the site. In principle, the operator of the campsite is responsible for this.

In order to draw extinguishing water from the lake, an extinguishing water extraction point would have to be built at the lake. This is time-consuming and costly. As a temporary solution, it would also have been sufficient if the fire brigade could drive close enough to the lake. However, a test drive with the fire brigade has shown that it is not possible to drive close enough to the lake due to the unpaved terrain.

To put it bluntly: these are smoke and mirrors. In recent years, the responsible employees of the district administration have held numerous discussions with all parties involved, i.e. the campers, the campsite operator and the municipality of Wolmirsleben. They even explain to the local council what the initial situation is and what measures are necessary. They have repeatedly pointed out solutions and exercised discretion - in the interests of the users. However, this is not a political decision; the specifications are based on building, fire protection, nature and water legislation. The Salzland district is acting in a delegated sphere of influence here. There are no political considerations involved! In addition, the campsite operator was never constructive. On the contrary, he has made the necessary process of change more difficult, portraying himself as a victim of the authorities in publicly accessible videos. But what he does not do is recognise his responsibility as an operator.

Yes, the Magdeburg Administrative Court has now established this in several rulings. It even clearly demanded that the building supervisory authority not make any compromises in order to protect life and limb due to the high risk! At the request of the campsite operator, many of the decisions were also reviewed by the Higher Administrative Court in Naumburg. In Germany, everyone has the right to take legal action against an administrative act such as this. In this specific case, we are also able to do so, as there should no longer be any doubt that we acted correctly in all respects on the basis of the decisions - even if many still claim otherwise!

To be clear: we regret that it had to come to this. We have always pointed out solutions and reached out to all parties involved, because local recreation at the Schachtsee plays an important role for the Salzland district as an attractive residential and business location. However, after two years we realised that there was hardly any real progress in the matter. That is why we, as the building supervisory authority, had to fulfil our responsibility and enforce the prohibition of use. If the campsite is to be used again, the conditions must first be created that those responsible are aware of.

Here too: The responsibility lies with the municipality of Wolmirsleben and the operator of the campsite. We have always spoken out in favour of a solution in terms of bathing, but there was no serious initiative to do so. Instead, we were only ever confronted with public accusations that we had also banned bathing. It is true that the bathing area is formally part of the campsite. We have therefore suggested that bathing can take place if the area is clearly separated from the campsite - for example with the help of a fence.