Despite the Corona crisis with infection numbers at a record level, many cities want to hold on to their Christmas markets – but mostly under tightened conditions. What is true where?
Berlin – mulled wine, roasted almonds and a present for Christmas Eve: none of that was available in 2020 – at least not at the country’s major Christmas markets.
A year later, the number of infections is at a record level – but a large part of the population is also vaccinated. So what about the Christmas markets? Many cities are looking for their own solutions this year.
The world-famous Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg is likely to take place according to the current status. The city has been working on a decentralized concept for months. Accordingly, there is a “step-by-step concept”: the market can be adjusted depending on the Corona situation and requirements.
The city of Augsburg has similar “escalation levels” for its market in the drawer. Information on the exact concepts is to be provided on this Monday in Nuremberg and Augsburg. Ingolstadt, on the other hand, has already canceled the Christmas market due to the “dramatic” situation in the hospitals.
In Bochum, when the big Christmas market opens next week, people can even be vaccinated against the corona virus on site. “With our mobile vaccination offers, we always go where many people are. We are doing the same with the vaccination center at the Christmas market, ”said a city spokesman for the German Press Agency on Friday.
The neighboring city of Essen has similar offers in the run-up to Christmas. At the Christmas market in the city center, the vaccination bus stops at the height of the main shopping street.
In Frankfurt am Main they even want to do without any restrictions on access to the Christmas market. Only visitors who have survived an infection with the virus or who have been vaccinated against it are only allowed in two areas (2G). “It should be a Christmas market for everyone. All Frankfurt residents and guests from outside are warmly welcome, ”said Mayor Peter Feldmann (SPD) on Friday. In order to avoid too much crowding, however, the area of the market in the city center is to be increased significantly.
Cancellations are not – at least currently – necessary in Lower Saxony. In Saxony-Anhalt there should be markets with 2G and 3G regulations, whereas Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is calling for cancellations. “You can’t imagine standing at the Christmas market, drinking mulled wine and everything in the hospitals is over and you’re fighting for the last resources,” he said on Thursday in the program “Frühstart” on RTL / ntv. dpa
