Traffic chaos in Schwanau: Entrepreneur removes flower pots on his own!

Traffic chaos in Schwanau: Entrepreneur removes flower pots on his own!

In a remarkable incident, entrepreneur Martin Herrenknecht from Schwanau-Allmannsweier recently announced that in a night-time operation he removed 20 flower pots that had been placed in a 30 km/h zone to calm traffic. These buckets were intended to increase the visibility of parking bays and were part of a resolution by the local council. Herrenknecht made the comments in an email to his employees in which he called the pots "insane" and said he removed them to ensure a safe access route, but also raised concerns about the dangers posed by the flower pots.

The planters were originally in Herrenweg and were installed by the Schwanau community. Herrenknecht has now brought the buckets to its company premises, and some have even been transported to the town hall in Schwanau-Ottenheim. Mayor Marco Gutmann has already called for the buckets to be returned to their original location, as this is politically desired and partial measures are necessary to increase traffic safety. Removing the pots could be seen as theft since the plants are the property of the community, explains Tagesschau.de/inland/regional/badenwuerttemberg/swr-unternehmen-herrenknecht-entfernt-eigenmaechtig-blumenkuebel-100.html).

Fears about road safety

Herrenknecht underpinned his decision with concerns about road safety. Larger vehicles in particular could get into confusing situations due to the flower pots, especially during rush hours. However, this argument has not only found support, but has also sparked criticism, especially from the community, which, together with head of the municipality Michael Fertig, emphasizes that the buckets are part of an officially ordered traffic calming measure. The local council voted in favor of the buckets in March 2025 in order to promote the road characteristics in the 30 km/h zone, confirmed [Schwarzwaelder Bote.

Discussions are currently underway between Herrenknecht, the municipality of Schwanau and other responsible bodies such as the district office and the police to find a solution. Suggestions are already being made to improve the visibility of the buckets with warning beacons or special fastenings. This discussion not only focuses on the company's interests, but also raises questions about general road safety in the region. The traffic calming approach could play a crucial role here, as the findings of the Difu publication paper suggest.

Traffic calming and its effects

The Difu documents that traffic calming measures are becoming increasingly popular in German cities, but are also encountering headwinds. The most common concerns revolve around the fear of increased pollution on the neighboring road network, which, however, often does not empirically prove to be true. Rather, most surveys show that there is a so-called “traffic evaporation” that reduces the overall volume of traffic. This indicates that restrictive measures to reduce traffic can actually have positive effects and should be given greater consideration in municipal discussions. These considerations are also likely to be important for the future of traffic calming in Schwanau, supported by the arguments in the specialist literature Difu.

The situation surrounding the flower pots in Schwanau is therefore not just a local political dispute, but also part of a larger discussion about safety, traffic management and civic responsibility in the community.