Dangerous bend in Hohtenn German wants to ban Valais residents from honking their horns
A German expatriate in Valais fights against honking neighbors - and loses. The public prosecutor's office allows honking in a narrow village street. The noise remains, the dispute continues.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Zvonko Kep, a newcomer to the village of Hohtenn VS, complains about constant honking outside his home.
- He sees the honking as deliberate harassment.
- The Valais public prosecutor's office declared the honking to be legal and necessary for road safety, which rendered Kep's complaints unsuccessful.
- The dispute continues and passers-by are still honking their horns.
For Zvonko Kep, a 63-year-old German who has settled with his partner in the idyllic village of Hohtenn in Valais, everyday life is increasingly becoming a nightmare, as Blick writes.
The reason? An annoying concert of horns outside his front door that has been driving him mad for months. But now the Valais public prosecutor's office has decided: The honking remains permitted - a bitter defeat for Kep.
"They want to honk me away"
Kep's apartment is located on a narrow, steep lane that is equally problematic for motorists and mountain bikers. To avoid accidents, the neighbors say they regularly honk their horns. For Kep, however, this is not a precautionary measure, but targeted harassment: "They want to honk me away!" he railed last year, suspecting discrimination behind it. "Maybe they just don't want strangers in the village," the former plasterer speculates.
Public prosecutor agrees with the honkers
The frustration reached its peak when Kep filed several complaints against the honking neighbors. But now came the sobering news: one complaint was investigated - and dismissed. The public prosecutor's reasoning should be particularly annoying for Kep: honking is completely legal at this point and necessary to warn oncoming traffic. Even honking five to eight times a day does not constitute a deliberate noise nuisance.
For Kep, this is an affront: "You drive so slowly through the lane anyway that honking is unnecessary," he argues. But his complaint goes unheard. Instead, he now fears an escalation: "This is an invitation to terrorize us even more."
"I will not be driven away!"
Despite the legal defeat, Kep is fighting back. Although he doesn't want to take the matter to any further courts for cost reasons, the chapter is far from closed for him. "I will continue to press charges in the future if I have to," he announces. Because one thing is certain for Kep: he will not be evicted from his home.
How the dispute ends remains uncertain. One thing is certain: the alleyway in Hohtenn is likely to remain the epicenter of an unusually loud neighbourhood conflict for some time to come.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.
