Porsche magnate puts historic Salzburg villa up for sale after row over private ‘tunnel for one’

Plans by Wolfgang Porsche to bore private 500-metre road link through Austrian hill caused anger among locals Wolfgang Porsche, the Austrian-German automotive magnate, appears to have abandoned plans to build a private 500-metre tunnel for his cars through the Salzburg hills after a public uproar over the “tunnel for one”. In 2020, Porsche bought a storied 17th-century villa on the outskirts of Salzburg for €8.4m (£7.2m), and last autumn he secured permission from the city authorities for an estimated €10m private access road through the rugged limestone hill. The 83-year-old’s vision was for the tunnel to lead from a municipal car park in the city centre to a subterranean garage next to the villa where he would be able to park eight cars. The proposal sparked incredulity and anger among many locals, not least because of the historic nature of the property, which was once the home of Stefan Zweig. The Jewish writer lived in it until he was driven out of the city in 1934 by the Austro-fascist regime. It appears Porsche has performed a dramatic U-turn, putting the 12-room estate, known locally as the Paschinger Schlössl, on the market instead. A new owner would be permitt