Leopoldsdorf in melancholy

agrana

Dark clouds over the Leopoldsdorf sugar factory. What is the local opinion one day after the "end"? (Bild: zVg/Vymy)

Bubbling mineral resources, top company locations in the up-and-coming region between Vienna and the eastern border? - The Marchfeld region has been put off long enough with plans for the future and supposed economic projects. A site inspection in Leopoldsdorf on the first day after the sugar factory was shut down.

"Look, it started with the sale of Austria Tabak in Hainburg, where half of Marchfeld was employed. Then the pharmaceutical industry was sold off, then they started to gradually devalue us as a sugar region," grumbles a local resident: "What was that about the phrases about wanting to become independent of foreign goods?"

The photo of a former employee is a reminder of full steam ahead in Leopoldsdorf(Bild: zVg/Vymy)

Mood in the village: Leopoldsdorf residents tell their stories
Günter Gulz can be found in a snack bar directly opposite the town hall. The 85-year-old has lived through the "golden age" of the sugar factory - for 30 years he worked for what was once the largest employer in the region, and he never has a bad word to say about it. Quite the opposite of his opinion on the now sudden end of the factory.

"We were one big family," recalls Gaby Steiner-Kropik of her time at the factory. The 60-year-old felt the first upheaval "when the very popular factory tours were abolished".

Two farmers describe their views
Farmers Johann Lugmayr and Martin Rodner have a more down-to-earth view: "The weevil crisis and years of putting off the closure of the sugar factory have toughened us up. Beet cultivation does take its toll on the quality of the soil, but the idea that we would not have been able to supply the necessary quantities is simply wrong." The farmers point to the indirect profitability of the farm, which is now no longer there: "From the supply industry to the regional economy - small businesses that kept the farm going. The factory was in focus."

Mayor criticizes global market development
Mayor Clemens Nagel takes the same line: "It particularly affects those who are losing their jobs", he says, "deeply shocked". The sugar factory was the economic engine of the town. The end fills the residents with melancholy.

According to Nagel, it is not Agrana itself that has maintained the site for years, but is now taking measures or reacting in the face of market globalization.

A tragedy. We hope that Marchfeld will not be left with another industrial ruin.

Clemens Nagel, Bürgermeister von Leopoldsdorf im Marchfelde

But you also have to bear in mind that the municipality "is losing the lion's share of municipal income in one fell swoop, which will now have an impact on all the citizens of Leopoldsdorf . . . "