In wirmsthal, contrary to the general trend, the number of inhabitants is rising

Sigismund von dobschutz slightly rising population figures and current tree removals are signs of increasing attractiveness of the euerdorf district of wirmsthal. This was discussed at the castle meeting at the "zum hirschen" inn clearly, when mayor patricia schieber presented her annual review of 2018 and the outlook for coming mabnahmen.

For a few years now, there has been a slight increase in the number of residents: in 2015, the number in wirmsthal was 315; today, it is 321 (market town: 1532). In 2018 alone, there were 17 away, but 20 toward. "These are often young families who return to their home town after completing their education, said schieber and emphasized the fact that this increase contradicts the general demographic trend of decreasing population in the rural area. The mayor added that it is an advantage that, at least statistically calculated, there is a job for every second inhabitant directly in the market town. In the past year, it was also possible to sell a vacant building plot in wirmsthal to a businessman.

Demand for kindergarten places

With an increase in young families, kindergarten and school are a priority for citizens. The demand for kindergarten places continues, informed schieber the meeting participants and referred to the establishment of a third group. The number of students at the einhard school is also growing, although only 47 of the 147 students come from the municipality. The mayor could not give a timetable for the renovation of the school gymnasium, as there is still no commitment from the state for the estimated 2.3 million euro purchase. The administrative community wants to determine the exact scope of the renovation only after knowing the amount of the funding.

Investment in cemetery and church

Renovation inspections will take place in 2019 not only in euerdorf, but also in wirmsthal. Following the acquisition of the dilapidated schaub building in hauptstrabe a few years ago by the market community, a central festival square is to be created there after partial demolition with financial support from the city’s urban development program, in accordance with an ideas workshop conducted with architect bernd muller. The planning and surveying costs spent so far have been reported at just under 5600 euros.

Investments will soon also be made in the wirmsthal cemetery and the st.-johannis church. On the cemetery land there are several released grave sites. Since there is a general trend towards burial in urns, space will be created for urn graves on the right side of the cemetery, where the hedge has also shrunk in places and has therefore already been removed.

Auben and interior renovation

According to franz gundelach, a member of the church administration, the planned renovation of the church’s exterior in 2019, including roof renovation and replacement or renovation of the windows, as well as the interior renovation scheduled for 2020, "will hopefully begin in may. The tenders have gone out, but the actual start of the renovation is dependent on the free capacities of the craftsmen, even if the contract is awarded quickly. In response to a question from this newspaper, gundelach put the total cost of this renovation at 500,000 euros, of which 220,000 euros will be covered by the market town, 150,000 euros by the diocese, 50,000 euros by the church foundation and the remainder by donations and personal contributions.

Saving water!

Schieber issued a reminder to use water sparingly. As a result of last year’s drought, a significantly lower groundwater level was measured in march than at the same time the previous year. Although the municipality is reviewing the water extraction from additional available sources, a steady decline in the groundwater level has been observed for years.