"As if we were at war."

Inanimate and eerily empty: L'Aquila is weeks after the earthquake is not returned to normalcy. An Italian hotelier fears that the historic city even more destruction is imminent - a soulless reconstruction.

 

blogs ONLINE: Mr. Kihlgren you have in the Abruzzi several historic mountain villages to rural holiday resorts in the old style expanded. What is the situation in L'Aquila, barely six weeks after the earthquake in which nearly 300 people were killed?

Daniele Kihlgren: It is as though we were at war. The situation is dramatic, even when we see the world public has already forgotten and we made the headlines are gone. The historic center of L'Aquila is deserted and eerily empty. Here, no one lives, almost all former residents have left the city.

blogs ONLINE: The chairman of the Journalists Association in the Abruzzi, Sergio D'Agostino, has criticized the fact that L'Aquila is now a completely militarized zone was. It Wimmel of bans, nobody could move freely.

Kihlgren: That is so, because still many buildings are in danger. In this way, but also prevents the people to loot.

blogs ONLINE: What about in your holiday complex in Santo Stefano, about 27 miles east of L'Aquila, from?

PERSONAL

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Daniele Kihlgren, son of a Swedish and an Italian industrialist, has studied philosophy in Milan. On a motorcycle trip he discovered the village of Santo Stefano di Sessanio Abbruzzen in the first and had the idea of the abandoned city building and tourist use. In 2000 he bought a third of the vacant houses, and built his "Albergo diffuso on. Meanwhile, the company, which he chairs, bought ten of these villages, including in the cave city of Matera.

Kihlgren: The emblem of the village, a tower from the 13th Century, it has collapsed and damaged two of our houses. The remaining buildings are all intact - for me a proof that one is simultaneously traditional and build earthquake-safe and can be remedied. Access to the village, however, is still locked. Therefore, we currently do not receive guests. We will, however, the end of the month again organize a concert.

blogs ONLINE: You have five million euros in your unusual ambitious project - from today's view, a misjudgment?

Kihlgren: No, not at all. Life goes on, someday, the visitors come back. In Abruzzi, there were over the centuries with the earthquake, as in 1915, when at least 30,000 people died.

blogs ONLINE: The head of the Anti-Mafia Commission, Giuseppe Pisanu said in regard to a commitment of organized crime in the reconstruction: "Cosa Nostra, 'Ndrangheta and Camorra have already arrived in Abruzzi."

Kihlgren: Well, no surprise that, after all, they even landed in Germany. The Abruzzi were never traditional Mafia territory. That the honorable companies now in the reconstruction bid for public contracts and force mitverdienen, it is sad reality - but not the biggest problem.

blogs ONLINE: But?

Kihlgren: I fear that the reconstruction of the historical center of even greater damage than the earthquake itself I fight with all means that the architectural heritage is preserved. Unfortunately the past has shown that in Italy a snobbish concept of culture prevails - this is only valid as bewahrenswert what is great and famous, ancient or Renaissance - Monuments, churches, arenas. But what happens to the streets, the houses, the so-called small historical heritage, the atmosphere, the spirit of a city represents? This is true but it is also to protect!

blogs ONLINE: You are against modern buildings in the center, no matter in what form?

Kihlgren: Of course. L'Aquila, I want to see - and not any of the creations of famous architects! Renzo Piano, Massimiliano Fuksas, or may be the right ones for Dubai - but not for L'Aquila.

ITALY-QUIZ

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blogs ONLINE: In the village hotel, you almost manic emphasis on historical authenticity - building materials and floor plans of medieval buildings were well maintained as rough peasant smoky kitchen furniture or walls.

Kihlgren: We preserve the traces of the people in their habitat left. This is important, it remains
Identity of the place preserved. The inhabitants of Santo Stefano have us so much about their craft taught. Recently declared me an 89-year-old, how to color naturally produces. Then there are the traditional kitchen, the old recipes. We constantly learn about this.

blogs ONLINE: Sounds highly social romanticism ...

Kihlgren: No, we mystify the rural life with all its poverty and ignorance are not. Finally, exactly why so many people have emigrated, and entire villages deserted hinerlassen. We want this time but not as embarrassing and backward displace, but the memory of it preserved. For cheap folk and country-style others are responsible, believe me.

blogs ONLINE: Who then?

Kihlgren: All the standard kontextlose, sterile accommodations offer in which medieval stereotypes are sold.

blogs ONLINE: How do you assess the current crisis of government?

Kihlgren: It can and I will not judge. I can only say: Those responsible are in what they do now, to be measured. This is not
to alleged scandals and insulted women, but about the impending death of a historical city.

blogs ONLINE: What do you think of the plan of civil protection director Guido Bertolaso, in July, the G8 summit going to be in L'Aquila hold, where there are still aftershocks, and the infrastructure has collapsed?

Kihlgren: Come on out. If everything is well organized, it might even be helpful for us. If the foreign guests with their own eyes how the city is, perhaps even more financial assistance.

blogs ONLINE: What put you in the present situation?

Kihlgren: I hope it succeeds in Italy, to its great history and culture to see and the world to show that it is capable, one of the most beautiful cities of the country rebuild. Whether it is in a position to meet this challenge - we'll see.