Dream house 60 cm (2 feet) too high...Court orders building freeze...Homeowner shoots himself
 
Andreas Horn (36) despaired of its dream of the house and the envy of the neighbors.



Herford, Germany: A mighty log-cabin like in the wilderness of Canada. This was his dream of a home for his wife and his twin sons.
It became his grave.

Andreas Horn (36) shot himself in the basement. How desperate does one have to be to leave wife and children behind?


The bitter charges of his family: Resentful neighbors have driven him into suicide!"

His father Heinz (69) tells the sad story: "Such a house has always been the dream of my son.
He bought a large sloped property in beautiful east Westphalia at the outskirts of Herford. He had three containers of stout pine shipped from Canada. The building authority agreed to the outlines for the log-cabin (200 sqm/2000sqr feet).
 


But when the gable stood, the roof finished, the windows installed, and the family was ready to move in, neighbors complained: "This bunker structure doesn't fit in here." and complained to the building authority. It turned out that the house was indeed 60 centimeters too high.

The office wanted to tolerate the deviation actually. But the neighbors didn't give in. So the agency was then forced to act the consequence: Approval withdrawn, € 350,000 construction-in-progress shut down!

The homeowner was shocked. He desperately appealed to the Administrative Court, then to the Higher Administrative Court. He lost both processes and was saddled with € 50000 court costs.

The father: "Andreas nevertheless didn't give up. He tried again and again to find solutions with the neighbors. In vain."

Andreas H. finally lost all hope for his house. The sport shooter took a pistol (Mauser 08 -sic-) from his safe, drove to the house, and shot himself in the basement.

© 2004 Bild.T-Online.de

That sucks... losing control over your own property is one of the most frustrating things there is.

Damn!

I think I would have torched the entire neighborhood before I shot myself. Or skip the suicide and just burn the other houses.

I never knew the Germans were into cowboy action shooting!

Quoted: Damn! I think I would have torched the entire neighborhood before I shot myself. Or skip the suicide and just burn the other houses.

You took the words out of my mouth!!!  Gasoline, polystyrene, some aluminium powder...........

Some people get way too wrapped up in trying to "keep up with the Johnsons". There was a couple that lived next door. They were young and just had a child. Their only income was the man worked. This was in a middle class neighborhood with houses averaging around $150,000.

Well they decided to move into another neighborhood where houses averaged $250,000. They could barely afford furniture.

I dont understand the whole fascination of living in an upper scale neighborhood or closed gate community.

Once you've donned a vest and hat like that, it's a short steep road to suicide. The house was just an excuse.

Quoted: Once you've donned a vest and hat like that, it's a short steep road to suicide. The house was just an excuse.

OK, that /was/ funny. He's wearing the traditional German carpenters' outfit though.

That's not what Lucas McCain would have done.  Mark would be shaking saying "Gosh Pa, how'd you disembowl the Muellers so fast?"

Seriously if you're going to kill yourself you might as well kill the rest of the whiners on your way out.

Quoted: Seriously if you're going to kill yourself you might as well kill the rest of the whiners on your way out.

Exactly.

Sad. Really sad....

Well, Germany has become a socialist shithole! (How do I know? I used to live there....)  Nuff said...
All the Prussian ideals of honesty, hard work, committment, meticulousness, etc.... went out the window years ago. It's a freakin wellfare state that rewards the lazy...
Alright, gotta stop right here. My bloodpressure is raising...

LRdrvr

That guy looks like Rick Moranis (the dad from Honey I Shrunk the Kids)

Digital

I had a friend who moved into a ghetto neighborhood in DC with her husband.  They bought an old Victorian that was falling down and over 2 years restored it.  They did amazing stuff to that old house.  Naturally the "locals" hated them since now there was a nice house on the block and all the locals wanted to do with their houses was let them rot and keep drinking malt liquor on the porch.  My friend sold the house after a few years.

GunLvr

As someone who grew up and lived and worked/studied in Germany, I can only say: I’m not surprised. The general stress level of this packed, expensive, overly regulated little country would drive most Americans bughouse. I wish I had a pfennig for every time some German immigrant to the USA told me he couldn’t find what he wanted back home in life- everybody from business people to computer types. One of them told me he loved Massachusetts, because it was so free here, the laws on everything so lax, almost no business or property regulations (!). Well, compared with the inane rules back home, who can blame him, for thinking so?

Every thing from window size to fence colors is strictly regulated, everywhere. There are local variations, and some localities do not enforce them as much as others, but when they do, it makes life extraordinarily difficult. And the rules are enforced with a frightening, mind-numbing efficiency, even when the net effect is inefficient. As we see in this example.

Maybe they should saw off the offending two-foot high section of this house and erect it as a memorial to pig-headed German thoroughness in the pursuit of inefficiency ?

Nah- there’s likely some regulation that forbids it……

Quoted: Dream house 60 cm (2 feet) too high...Court orders building freeze...Homeowner shoots himself

Hell, don't they have Sawzalls in Germany?

When I said "Torch the neighborhood" this is the type of confligration I had in mind. Something on a Biblical scale:







Borrowed from Johnny Reno's Pics of the Day thread. Thanks Johnny!

They are VERY into it.

In fact, that is about the most popular shooting sports they have.  It is incredible reading about Germans dressing up like Apaches.

It’s out there.  True, it’s hard to find, but when you find it, the read is just amazing.

When I was stationed down in Bad Tolz, they had a company of CSA reenactors.  Every year they would fly back to the states to particapte in some of the battles.  If Bavaria could succed Germany they would.  Just finished another 3 years there last Aug.  They work for half the year for the goverment (50% income tax) and a 14% sales tax.

Quoted: When I was stationed down in Bad Tolz, they had a company of CSA reenactors.  Every year they would fly back to the states to particapte in some of the battles.  If Bavaria could succed Germany they would.  Just finished another 3 years there last Aug.  They work for half the year for the goverment (50% income tax) and a 14% sales tax.

You forgot to add what they pay for gas Over There.

sucks having 'proud' german heritage and watching shit like this happen. that whole country has gone to crap.

talk about one big-ass self-induced guilt trip.

In Germany you have to get permission and approval from the neighbors and town council to change your door color! Think Homeowners Assciation with the full force of the law behind everything they do.
You need a Government Licence, (complete with a written examination) to play Golf.

Lovely country, but regulated to death.  .

Andy

sounds like where the US is heading...

Quoted: sounds like where the US is heading...

Yep.  If you haven't read "Lost Rights" by James Bovard, you need to.

We aren't as free as we like to think.

Quoted: They are VERY into it. In fact, that is about the most popular shooting sports they have.  It is incredible reading about Germans dressing up like Apaches. It’s out there.  True, it’s hard to find, but when you find it, the read is just amazing.

Hitler was apparently a fan of American cowboy and indian fiction.

GunLvr

Quoted: In Germany you have to get permission and approval from the neighbors and town council to change your door color! Think Homeowners Assciation with the full force of the law behind everything they do. You need a Government Licence, (complete with a written examination) to play Golf. Lovely country, but regulated to death.  . Andy

No offense to Vito, but is this true?

Quoted: Quoted: They are VERY into it. In fact, that is about the most popular shooting sports they have.  It is incredible reading about Germans dressing up like Apaches. It’s out there.  True, it’s hard to find, but when you find it, the read is just amazing. Hitler was apparently a fan of American cowboy and indian fiction.

You'll laugh, but Hitler did own a ranch in Colorado.