In Salzburg, Austria, one of the world’s wealthiest men wants to tunnel through a mountain. This isn’t a public works project or for some new public transportation system or for emergency services; it’s not even for some obscure UNESCO project, but to build a private garage.
Wolfgang Porsche, grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, bought a historic hilltop mansion for $9 million in 2020. The villa, built in the 17th century and once owned by renowned author Stefan Zweig, sits on the Kapuzinerberg, a wooded hill overlooking Salzburg’s old town. It’s an area known for its Mozart lore, baroque charm, and winding roads that tourists and locals alike crawl up every day. For Porsche, that climb just won’t do. So, he plans to build a 12-car, cross-shaped garage beneath the home and dig a private tunnel through protected public land to access it.
Estimated price tag: $11.3 million. This isn’t satire. This is the super-rich in 2025.
The Tunnel To Nowhere
At first, Porsche’s project flew under the radar. Salzburg’s then-mayor approved it in 2024, brushing aside concerns. But after a political shift brought the left-leaning Green Party into more influence, the opposition started gaining traction. Ingeborg Haller, a Green Party official, is now spearheading resistance, voicing what many are thinking: “A private citizen should not be allowed to dig into a mountain just because they have money.”
As you can imagine, Wolfgang and his family have built quite an expensive collection of Porsches and other remarkable cars. One of his most famous is the
The tunnel would require a change to the city’s zoning laws, meaning the council has to vote on it. The vote is coming soon, and no one knows which way it’ll go. Meanwhile, Porsche has offered a few olive branches—letting the public tour parts of his soon-to-be-renovated villa, or allowing neighbors to use the tunnel. But that’s like offering your butler a ride in your Bugatti and calling it equality.
The Super-Wealthy Can Bend The Very Earth To Their Will
This story isn’t just about Salzburg. It’s about 2025, a year when the divide between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else feels sharper than ever. In America, Elon Musk continues to dominate headlines, not just for his ventures in space or AI, but for his increasingly bold political stances and influence over policy and culture. The billionaire class is not just rich; they’re powerful, insulated, and seemingly above the systems the rest of us are forced to operate within.
Public tunnel projects take decades to plan and fund—if they ever happen. In Salzburg, people have waited years for safer transit options. Meanwhile, Porsche can cut through centuries-old forestland simply because he can’t be bothered to drive up a hill.
And the mayor? Bernhard Auinger, who might abstain from the vote due to a potential conflict of interest, once sat on the board of Porsche’s holding company. You can’t make this stuff up.
The Garage Isn’t the Problem—The Message Is
Not everyone in Salzburg is outraged. Some call the backlash “the politics of envy.” But that misses the point. This isn’t just about a tunnel or a garage, it’s about the message it sends. That if you’re rich enough, the world bends to your will. That zoning laws, heritage sites, and even the natural world are flexible when you have enough numbers in a bank account.
In 2025, the super-rich aren’t just buying more—they’re reshaping the planet to suit their whims. They live in a different reality, one where time, space, and law do not apply in the same way. The rest of us? We’re still stuck in traffic.
Source: Porsche, Motor1, Road & Track
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