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Bischofsheim: Citizens' decision on the apprentice signal box now valid!
Referendum in Bischofsheim (Groß-Gerau): Subsequent voting documents enable a quorum. The local council is planning to renovate the training signal box.
Bischofsheim: Citizens' decision on the apprentice signal box now valid!
Bischofsheim has experienced a turbulent turn in the referendum on the purchase of an old training signal box. The initially narrow result from May 2024, which fell short of the required approval by eight votes, took on a new dimension with the discovery of over sixty postal voting documents last month. The electoral authorities had stored these documents in a safe at the municipal administration, which were mistakenly placed in the wrong ballot box. About hessenschau.de reports that the Darmstadt Administrative Court decided on May 15, 2025 to take these votes into account in the counting.
The voting letters that were subsequently found were counted on June 24, 2025. 45 citizens voted for the purchase and 16 against it; there was one abstention. This resulted in a total of 62 votes, which ultimately reached the necessary quorum of 25 percent of those eligible to vote. Mayor Lisa Gößwein (SPD) was relieved and explained that she respected the democratic will of the citizens and that the referendum was now valid. However, around three quarters of the votes cast were against the purchase of the training signal box, which makes it clear that citizens have clear ideas about the future use of the property.
Purchase Plans and Concerns
The community originally wanted to purchase the listed building for 100,000 euros in order to create space for clubs and restaurants. The investor who currently owns the property plans to create housing. However, opponents of the purchase, such as lawyer Reinhold Rothenburger, expressed concerns about the expected renovation costs, which were estimated at at least one million euros. Mayor Gößwein wanted to avert the danger of a “sleeping city” due to unplanned, new residential areas, which further fueled the discussion about the referendum.
It is striking that the referendum was successful a year after the original vote. This case illustrates the importance of citizen participation in municipalities, as described on [buergergesellschaft.de](https://www.buergergesellschaft.de/mitentscheiden/buerger Beteiligung-in-stadt-land/buerger Beteiligung-in-der-kommune/buergerbegehren-und-buergerentscheid/). Citizens' petitions and referendums are regulated by various legal requirements, and the opportunity to actively participate is expected and desired by citizens. Such votes are essential, especially in the area of local politics, as they strengthen the participation of local councils and show local decision-makers what wishes and interests the citizens represent.
This referendum not only sent an important signal of democratic commitment, but also made it clear that citizen participation in the community can flourish with the right application. In the end, it will be exciting to see how the Bischofsheim community deals with the results and whether new proposals come to the table that take the needs of the citizens into account. While the focus settles on the old teaching signal box for now, it remains to be seen what creative solutions the community will develop for the future.