Miffed Bavarian Town Wants Divorce

Residents of the tiny town of Kiefersfelden in the Bavarian Alps have long been driving across the border to fill up in Austria. What's more, their train connections are almost completely supplied by the Austrian national rail network and soon they'll only be able to receive television programs from the neighboring country as well.

"Why shouldn't we completely belong to Austria then?" Werner Schroller, head of the spa in the tiny vacation hamlet, told German news agency dpa.

The town in the south of Germany feels forsaken by the Bavarian state. So with a fest, called "Welcome to Austria," to be held on April 1, the city wants to call attention to this issue.

Blatant disadvantages

The initiative is more than an April fool's jest, say Schroller and other town officials. They insist that the Bavarian state is downright hindering the development of the border region, which has about 7,000 inhabitants. Mayor Erich Ellmerer and other city leaders are happy to supply a list of examples of blatant discrimination to prove their point.

One example burning up citizens these days is over gasoline: gas station operators in Kiefersfelden have seen their profits dwindle as citizens have made a beeline to fill up significantly cheaper gasoline in Austria. The trend has driven city gas stations out of business -- there was once seven, now there are two, moans Schroller.

Another argument put forward by the proponents of the symbolic entry to Austria is that once the region makes the switch to digital TV, then Keifersfeldeners who hold on to their old-fashioned TV antennae will only be able to receive Austrian television.

And beginning May 1, there won't be any more ambulance service due to cost and practical reasons -- the nearest clinic lies 30 miles away in Rosenheim and emergency vehicles often get stuck in traffic. Instead, the Austrian town of Kufstein is only 4 kilometers away -- with a hospital.

"Why should we remain in Bavaria then?" Schroller asks.

"Only beer from Austria"

To drive home the point, aggrieved residents of Kiefersfelden will protest against the stepmotherly treatment meted out to them by Bavaria on Friday.

The administrative head of the Austrian region of Tirol will be invited to the "Welcome to Austria" party, cars will sport Austrian number plates and the flags flying high on Kiefersfelden's town hall won't flaunt the blue and white colors of Bavaria, but rather those of Tirol.

Schroller is counting on at least a thousand participants. "And there'll only be beer from Austria," he said.