Porsche magnate puts historic Salzburg villa up for sale after row over private ‘tunnel for one’ | Austria
Austrian-German automotive magnate Wolfgang Porsche appears to have abandoned plans to build a 500-metre private tunnel for his vehicles through the Salzburg hills, following public outcry over the “one-man tunnel”.
Porsche bought a historic 17th-century villa on the outskirts of Salzburg for €8.4m (£7.2m) in 2020, and last autumn won permission from city authorities for an estimated €10m private access road along the rugged limestone hill.
The 83-year-old’s vision was for the tunnel to run from the municipal car park in the city center to an underground garage next to his villa, where he could park eight cars.
The proposal has sparked skepticism and anger among many residents due to the historic nature of the property, which was once the home of Stefan Zweig. The Jewish writer lived here until he was expelled from the city by the Austro-fascist regime in 1934.
It looks like Porsche has made a dramatic U-turn, putting the 12-room property known locally as Paschinger Schlössl on the market. The new owner will be allowed to build the tunnel, but they will need to rush to do so as the planning permission for which Porsche paid €48,000 is only valid until the end of 2028.
City authorities dashed the hopes of those who had been campaigning for years for the villa to be taken over by the state and turned into a museum dedicated to Zweig’s memory, long before Porsche bought it. Salzburg Mayor Bernhard Auinger said the city could not afford to buy it.
Zweig, whose memoirs inspired Wes Anderson’s film The Grand Budapest Hotel, described the house as “romantic and impractical” and wrote that its appeal was that it was “inaccessible to cars” and that the Kapuzinerberg hill on which it was built “can be reached by climbing more than a hundred steps.”
Backlash over Porsche’s tunnel plans, which protesters described as the pinnacle of inequality in a city where many residents struggle with housing shortages and exorbitant rents, contributed to Porsche’s decision to sell, according to local media reports.
“A city for all, instead of a tunnel for one” was one of the many protest slogans posted around Salzburg at the height of the protests last year.
While opponents of the tunnel claim victory, the Greens in Salzburg are calling on city authorities to go a step further and withdraw planning permission, arguing that the tunnel has contributed to property appreciation.
“It is out of the question for public land to be used for real estate speculation,” Greens’ Ingeborg Haller told Austrian media. “This is an issue of equal rights for everyone. It cannot be the case that only those who can afford to get special tunnel permits.”
Villa currently On the market for 12.7 million euros (£11 million), estate agents cited planning permission for the tunnel as one of the property’s highlights. Potential buyers were told in the sales pitch that they would be “seduced” by the “remarkable, approved private tunnel project” and “unique annexe for underground garage” that “elevates the property into a category of its own – a unique feature in historic Salzburg.”
Porsche’s property manager confirmed to Salzburger Nachrichten that the car magnate has put the property up for sale. He declined to say what prompted Porsche to abandon the project, but described the controversy surrounding the tunnel as “an argument fueled by jealousy.”
He said it was doubtful that Porsche would manage to live in the villa as he had initially envisioned with his new wife, Gabriele zu Leiningen, who was once married to the former Aga Khan.
A spokesman speaking on behalf of the family, not Porsche AG Holding, said, “No statement will be made on this matter.”
