The prominent house of the Bräms was originally a brickyard, at the time of the horse post also an inn. On a door there is the date1819. Later it became a nursery. But a rezoning had fatal consequences for the once stately walls. The story behind Mrs. Bräm's old nursery.

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Everyone who has ever driven from Dietwil in the direction of Lucerne knows the collapsed walls of the old nursery at the southernmost tip of the Freiamt. The high roof with the turret has inspired many an imagination and is probably the best-known ruin in the entire region. Now it is to be demolished and a new nursery is to be built in its place.Since spring 2008, when first Hans and then Maira Bräm, the former owners, died only a few months after each other, the ruin has stood empty. But how did it come about that a once beautiful, stately building like the Alte Gärtnerei could crumble into such a sad ruin? According to "Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz" (Art Monuments of Switzerland), the striking Bräms house was originally a brickyard, and at the time of the horse post also an inn. The year 1819 is written on a door. Around 1920 Josef Meier set up a nursery, his son Walter Meier-Bächler discontinued the nursery business in 1963. From a private bankruptcy Hans and Maira Bräm bought the house. After the property was rezoned from the gardening zone (agricultural zone 2) to the agricultural zone, the Bräms felt cheated.

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Fatal consequences of a rezoning ‍

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With the rezoning, the value of the property had dropped, which was one reason for the banks not to provide money for the renovation. Since then, Mrs. Bräm was not well disposed toward them, as she made clear to the Aargauer Zeitung, which visited her regularly in her home for one winter in 2005/2006 and published a series of articles about it. "We were creditworthy, but they stifled us. "She soon also had a bad word to say about the cultural property protectors. In 1983, she had the house listed as a cantonal monument. "They wanted to have all the trees cut down and threatened expropriation. So I sent them packing," Mrs. Bräm recounted, "and they were quickly out of there." The Old Nursery has long since ceased to be a listed building, and its condition allows deep insights into its construction. "Bean sticks were used there back then," Ms. Bräm noted. In addition, she said, much was realized with old material. "Rubble and, in some cases, broken bricks were used to fill in the framing." The beams in the ceilings, she said, were somehow laid not according to structural considerations, but rather by guesswork. "A lot of bungling."

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Municipality worried ‍

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The condition of the house at the time when the Bräms were still living in it was already so bad that the Dietwil municipal council was worried about the residents. On February 24, 2004, however, Hans and Maira Bräm confirmed in writing to the local council "that despite the desolate condition of our home, we are perfectly capable of living in it without damage." It still had enough rooms "in which we can stay dry and 'warm'". Leaving the property was out of the question for them. In addition, there was the possibility "if necessary, to put a comfortable caravan on the site (if some idiotic regulations of the canton do not prevent this again) and to live in it".

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