In the scenic city of Salzburg, Austria, the chairman of Porsche, Wolfgang Porsche, has stirred up a storm with his ambitious plans to build a 500-meter tunnel and a private garage beneath one of the city’s most iconic landmarks.
The 81-year-old billionaire’s project involves digging a passageway under his €8.4 million mansion, located on Kapuzinerberg, a lush hill that overlooks the city.
This tunnel would allow him to park a fleet of up to twelve cars in an underground garage beneath his 17th-century villa.
The Historic Villa and Local Backlash
While the city of Salzburg has granted preliminary approval for the tunnel, including a payment of €40,000 for access rights, there has been a growing wave of opposition from locals.
Porsche purchased the grand property, Paschinger Schlössl, in 2020, but the villa holds deep historical significance.
Originally renovated by renowned novelist Stefan Zweig in 1917, the mansion played a major role in Salzburg’s cultural landscape.
Zweig wrote some of his best-known works there and hosted parties with many famous writers, earning it the nickname “Villa Europe.”
The villa became even more significant when Zweig left Austria in 1934, fleeing the rise of the Nazi regime.
The controversy surrounding Porsche’s purchase of the villa stems from debates within the city council, some of whom had wanted to transform the mansion into a memorial museum.
However, tensions escalated when Porsche became frustrated with the narrow, crowded roads leading to his property.
The Hidden Deal
Seeking a solution, Porsche turned to the city’s former mayor, Harald Preuner, and in February 2023, quietly received permission to construct the 1,500 square meter underground tunnel on his property.
Additionally, he was granted access to a public car park to serve as the tunnel’s entrance.
For this privilege, Porsche paid Salzburg €40,000.
The deal remained largely undisclosed until after a municipal election in which the conservative party was swept out of office and the communist party made significant gains.
This shift in the political landscape prompted the communist party to call for the release of the deal’s details, and the Green party councillors voiced their criticism.
Growing Criticism and Political Fallout
Ingeborg Haller, the leader of the Green party in Salzburg, expressed her concerns, describing the arrangement as “special treatment for the super-rich” and claiming it left “a strange taste in the mouth.”
Meanwhile, Porsche’s company maintained that the tunnel project was a “purely private property issue.”
Salzburg’s new Social Democratic mayor, Bernhard Auinger, commented that it would have been wiser to make the deal public sooner, though he did not feel it was his place to determine whether the tunnel was “suitable or morally justifiable.”
With tensions running high, many locals are left questioning the fairness of the agreement and whether it truly serves the public’s best interest.