Gute catchers catch between 15 and 18 pieces an hour,” says Michael Schnellbach. The managing director of the Mannheim Federal Horticultural Society can only estimate how many wall lizards his people have caught and resettled. It must have been around 10,000, he says.
The rescue operation seemed strange, because where lizards were sunning themselves on barracks walls and concrete pavement, it is not a new concrete desert that is being created, but the Federal Garden Show, a green oasis on the outskirts of the city. And when the flower beds have been cleared in October and the stands dismantled, the “green corridor north-east” will remain: a fresh air corridor for Mannheim, local recreation area and species protection biotope in one. The lizards had to go anyway. Schnellbach knows that this is regulated by law. “As soon as excavators roll, you need compensatory measures.”
Former US Army logistics depot
Anyone who speaks to the man not only dives into the depths of German nature conservation law, he quickly understands that a federal garden show, affectionately called Buga, is more than flowers, trees and gardens. It is an infrastructure project worth millions, planned for years, with all the usual accompanying noises: citizen protests, party bickering, meetings and expert opinions and more expert opinions and more meetings.
Schnellbach, in his late fifties, is in the midst of one of the biggest conversion projects ever: the dismantling of the 80-hectare Spinelli barracks – a former US Army logistics depot. The supply of military vehicles and tanks for the whole of Europe was organized from here. Not only the barracks area had to be unsealed and cleared. In order to end up with a continuous green lung, the neighboring Feudenheimer Au should also be included in the plans, a field and park landscape not far from the Neckar bank. It was to be renatured, and an artificial lake was even to be dug through which the Neckar would later be routed so that it could meander again, as it did before it was straightened out.
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Mannheim
However, the “green” part is not over. The Buga project includes a cycle expressway, and the city is also building 1,800 new apartments on the edge of the barracks, including a kindergarten, elementary school and a green belt with play areas that borders directly on the exhibition grounds.
There is still a lot to be done shortly before the opening on Friday, April 14th. Small excavators and forklifts are busy driving across the site, turf is being laid, railings are being installed, pavilions are being set up, wagons with “spring floor” are being pushed across the pavement. The fact that the old tank hall, through which visitors are supposed to come to the site, is hardly recognizable as the entrance does not put Schnellbach at ease. “We were never on schedule anyway,” he says. The important thing is the spirit and the great atmosphere. Everyone pulls together and only goes home when the work is done. Afterwards, there is often a barbecue on the premises and the day’s work is concluded with a beer.
Climate, environment, energy and food security
The Federal Horticultural Show is an institution. It has been there since 1951, and the Federal President comes to the opening every two years. And it is a reflection of the Federal Republic: from the flower show, which showed parks as part of the reconstruction, to the natural conversion of the city – the exhibition has always been a reflection of its time. The show in Mannheim is said to be the most sustainable that has ever existed. Key themes: climate, environment, energy and food security. What can be recycled will be recycled, what can be mined will be mined.