Military invests

The money spigot is gushing: “Pinch me, I man, I streetcar”

The Upper Austrian military commander Dieter Muhr in front of a Leopard tank in Hörsching

(Bild: Wenzel Markus/Markus Wenzel)

The armed forces have been starved to death, and now all the barracks in Upper Austria are home to tanks and, above all, excavators. So much money is flowing in that military commander Dieter Muhr can hardly believe it himself in an interview. Future in NATO or Euro Army - the military commander of Upper Austria has a clear opinion.

The Hörsching airbase looks deserted when the "Krone" meets Brigadier Dieter Muhr for an interview. A cannibalized Leopard tank stands in the yard; the money that is to flow into Upper Austria alone could be used to buy a column of tanks that could circle the globe 29 times. "The conscripts have been given time off after a major exercise, and many of them are on assistance or foreign missions," says the military commander of Upper Austria, before he reports on the planned construction projects and purchases in the corridor outside his office in front of the aerial photos of "his" barracks, apparently still somewhat incredulous himself.