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City of Weißenfels sues former employees and former Lord Mayor Robby Risch for €4.5 million in damages over swimming pool fiascoFormer Weißenfels Lord Mayor Robby Risch commented in writing to the City Council and the Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR) on the City of Weißenfels’s approach in the swimming pool fiasco. 
The letters of former Lord Mayor Robby Risch: City Council of the City of Weißenfels Markt 1 06667 Weißenfels Information from the former Lord Mayor Via e-mail, Weißenfels, 25/01/2026 Ladies and Gentlemen, I would never have dreamed that after 14 years of commitment I would be confronted with a lawsuit based on a political decision by my successor. And thus today be forced to argue against the city. So be it. As you are aware, the chairman of the city council, Mr. Ekkehard Günther, has, on instructions, filed a claim for damages in the amount of €4.5 million against former employees and myself. Accordingly, enclosed is a letter to the federal funding authority under the emergency program “Investment Pact for the Promotion of Sports Facilities” for your information. For a realistic assessment, you will surely have been informed that the funding is, with high probability, distributed according to the “Königsteiner Key.” By way of reminder, this is also the basis of distribution under which refugees are allocated to the federal states and which was applied analogously in distributing the billions raised through new borrowing (special fund). Accordingly, the state is entitled (to my knowledge) to around €10.0 million of the “sports billion.” After funding for the castle, monastery, and Schützhaus from the structural change program and the state’s decision to build the JVA in Weißenfels, I would be pleased to see a success. Just as an aside, there would have been no need for a special city council; council resolutions can be submitted up to 31/01/2026. But this way it was much more theatrical. Regarding the “prison,” Mr. Papke has surely also informed you that no funds are immediately available in the state budget and thus the state-owned IPG cannot yet build either. Anyone listening to the political landscape also hears rather that this state government will no longer decide this, and thus the current decision should rather serve to end the location debate. One may look forward to the autumn. With regard to conducting a judicial review of norms, I would like to remind you that the resolution to initiate a “commercial area” was adopted under deception of the city and local councils. My question at the time—what for—was justified with companies ready to move in. That was obviously already a lie at the time and served to deceive the citizens of this city. Presumably there were already prior agreements with the Ministry of Finance at that point. This can certainly be examined in the context of a legal dispute. Only later did the “rezoning” occur. The in-house lawyers and urban planners can hopefully assess this with legal certainty. As a precaution, I am CC’ing Ms. Penndorf. I assume that Mr. Papke will inform you at this city council meeting about the imposition of a budget freeze. Not because of the depreciation of the swimming pool to be budgeted only next year, but because the county levy has been set too low and tax revenues have been planned too optimistically. He should have learned about the county levy yesterday. You are surely aware that you have so far managed not only to use up €20 million in reserves, but additionally around €2.0 million from the settlement over the wastewater levy (repayment of funding). Wishing you continued success. But I would also like to expressly thank you that the construction projects I initiated—the castle, the Schützhaus, and with third parties, the campus (monastery)—have not yet been run into the ground, and I continue to hope for good progress. Robby Risch Former Lord Mayor P.S.: With the decision to sue a “small” clerk of the municipal enterprise also for €4.5 million in damages, you have sent a lasting signal to the city’s employees. Feel free to assume that this has also been understood by potential applicants. Federal Institute for Building, Urban and Spatial Research (BBSR) Deichmanns Aue 31 – 37 53179 Bonn Via: zentrale@bbr.bund.de, Weißenfels, 25/01/2026 Re: Investment Pact for the Promotion of Sports Facilities – Funding application of the City of Weißenfels / Sports pool for €8.5 million Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to inform you as follows: • The above-mentioned sports pool is highly controversial in the city community (not the city council), as under a different political constellation it would be made obsolete by a renovated swimming hall. In addition, the planning is located in an area threatened by a 100-year flood (HQ 100), which will certainly entail significant cost increases. • The renovation (on hold since 08/22) has already been the subject of public debate several times, not only in the press, radio, and television but also through several investigations by the municipal supervisory authority of the Burgenlandkreis district as well as by the State Audit Office. • The latter more in the form of a party-commissioned opinion, which is why I will in parallel appeal to the Petitions Committee of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. • Although several expert opinions—both on the building’s statics and on the property itself and the city’s pool landscape—recommended completing the renovation (most recently by the company GMF GmbH & Co. KG dated 23/01/2024), demolition was decided upon in order to apply for funding. • With the filing of the lawsuit on 22/12/2025, damages in the amount of €4.5 million are currently being claimed in the same context against former employees and myself. This concerns a long-running proceeding before the Labor/Administrative Court in Halle (Saale). • Due to the amount of damages in the ongoing proceeding and the possible destruction of evidence, I intend in the proceeding (Case No. 5 A 600/25 HAL) to obtain a preliminary injunction against the planned demolition in the near term. A purely political decision is now to be underpinned, financed by debt from the special fund. The existing swimming hall, which could be completed in a few months, is missing for the citizens and children of the city. For ensuring swimming lessons alone in the neighboring municipality, bus trips currently cost €277.0k per year. If you have any questions, I am happy to be available at the above telephone number. Kind regards Signed: Robby Risch Former Lord Mayor Distribution: City Council of the City of Weißenfels, for information Municipal Supervisory Authority of the Burgenlandkreis District, for information State Audit Office of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, for information Mitteldeutsche Zeitung Author: AI-Translation - Redaktion | |
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