Schwerin/Anklam (dpa/mv) - The association of taxpayers in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has renewed its demand for a moderate conversion of the Nikolaikirche in Anklam (Western Pomerania-Greifswald) into a museum for aviation history. The city-based Otto Lilienthal Museum needs a new and modern location. "But the same applies here again: not everything that is beautiful must and can also be done," said Diana Behr, deputy state chairwoman of the taxpayers' association, on Friday in Schwerin.
She pointed out that the Anklam museum project "Ikareum" was again not included in the funding within the framework of the national urban development, which means that there are still large gaps in financing. Around 25 million euros were estimated for the entire project in 2019, 8 million had to be raised by the city. "This means that Anklam is at the limit of its capabilities," Behr stated. Instead of continuing to look for funding "for a castle in the air", a pragmatic solution should be found as to how the building can be completed in a functional way. The construction of a futuristic spire with a height of 80 meters is particularly controversial.
Behr also calculated that the museum needs more than 62,000 visitors a year to be economical. "You're still a long way from that in Anklam today," she said.
The "Ikareum" is to become the new landmark of the town on the Peene and commemorate the beginnings of aviation and the aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896), who came from Anklam. There was already an internationally recognized museum dedicated to him. However, the building is dilapidated, so that a new building was initiated. According to the State Chancellery, the federal and state governments had promised funding of almost 2.9 million euros last year for the monument-appropriate expansion of the Nikolaikirche, which was partially destroyed at the end of the Second World War.
