Hans-Peter Sigg (80) stands in front of the old customs bridge that connects Rheinau ZH and Jestetten (D) and is desperate. The reason: the incompetence of the German authorities.
The bridge has been extensively renovated for two months and is closed to traffic. Although the border is in the middle of the Rhine, the bridge belongs to the Canton of Zurich. This invested 810,000 francs in the repair work. He strengthens the supporting structure, renews the roof and the roadway.
Germany does not participate
The crux of the matter: One part, the bridge bearing on the Jestetter side, is under German jurisdiction. However, no renovation work is planned there, although this part is also in need of renovation. The canton of Zurich says: “We had informed our German colleagues in good time about our planned repairs to the roof and the roadway.”
Pensioner Sigg cannot understand why the part on the German side is not being redeveloped at the same time. He fears that his beloved toll bridge will soon have to be closed again. The bridge was completely closed for three months in 2020 due to the corona pandemic.
Sigg was already on the bridge with his father
The 80 meter long bridge not only connects Switzerland with Germany, the Zürcher Weinland with the Jestetter Zipfel. She also connects people like Hans-Peter Sigg with friends from Switzerland. And vice versa. Sigg worked in Switzerland for a long time. For him, the bridge is the most important connection there.
Hans-Peter Sigg grew up in Jestetten. He has loved the old customs bridge since he was five. At that time his father Ernst took him to the bridge to fish. “My father was the greatest fisherman before the Lord,” he says nostalgically.
Today he is active in an association in Rheinau. And the daily crossing of the bridge is literally his daily bread. He says: “I can’t eat German bread and I go to the Volg in Rheinau every day. They have the best St. Gallen bread there! » To get to Rheinau during the construction work, he has to make a detour of around 20 kilometers each time. The only connections lead either via Schaffhausen or Flaach ZH.
The authorities are getting rid of it
Sigg therefore asked the German authorities for answers. I wanted to know why the bridge couldn’t be repaired in one go – and got rid of it. Again and again. He was always put off or passed on to other offices for months after his innumerable written inquiries to the community and offices. From the community of Jestetten to the district office of Waldshut and back. This is proven by his numerous e-mails, which he printed out and compiled into a long dossier. “That drove me to despair,” he says.
Because the German bureaucracy annoyed him so much, he wanted to start a fundraising campaign with friends and repair the bridge himself. He inquired at the Waldshut district office about the status of monument protection. But also there it said: “We would like to point out that we can only provide you with precise information about the property and its monument properties if you can show a legitimate interest in the information (under data protection law).” Wimmed down. Yet again!
Too late to take the initiative
A bureaucracy that robs Hans-Peter Sigg of the last nerve. “The office is so huge that they probably need the money to keep themselves alive – not to renovate any bridge,” he says.
It’s too late either way. The construction work should be finished on Friday. “In the meantime, too much time has been wasted due to obstacles by the authorities,” says Hans-Peter Sigg with resignation. At least one consolation remains: he will soon be able to go shopping for his beloved St. Gallen bread again without any detours.