20 years ago today
“Chainsaw Rambo”: the coup on the Klagenfurt ring road
Insults, demos and fits of rage: Tree falls! Today marks the 20th anniversary of the felling of old trees that long stood in the way of the Klagenfurt Ring extension. A look back at a secret felling operation that changed Klagenfurt.
Traffic flows around Klagenfurt's city center, the green spaces invite you to take a stroll, healthy trees grow, the former fine dust problem is forgotten.
It is hard to imagine today that people tried to prevent this traffic solution in Klagenfurt! Former provincial governor Gerhard Dörfler pushed through the expansion of the ring road: "I really risked my political career back then."
As a reminder: in 2005, nobody dared to cut down the old and diseased trees along the ring road that stood in the way of a four-lane expansion.
Except for Dörfler, who used a trick and, under the guise of having to repaint the crosswalks, simply obtained a ring road closure from the authorities. And 20 years ago today to the day, he arrived early in the morning with a team of experienced woodcutters to cut down 30 trees in a matter of minutes.
"Not even the governor at the time, Jörg Haider, was informed. He only knew that I was going to do something that would be very loud," recalls Dörfler, who didn't miss the chance to grab a chainsaw himself . . .
As expected, the secret action caused a huge stir. Several Green politicians and demonstrators marched up, climbed trees, chained themselves together and insulted the "chainsaw rambo" Dörfler in a vicious manner. There were even jostling attacks, outbursts of anger and tears.
"The Ring extension was certainly the most emotional construction site I have experienced in my political career," Dörfler sums up: "Today I am pleased that everything we promised the people of Klagenfurt has been fulfilled and that beautiful, healthy trees are growing around the Ring."
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