The 2021 Christmas market season begins – but there is great uncertainty due to the current Corona situation. Rules vary from city to city.
Berlin / Frankfurt – Last year a cherished tradition fell out for many people: mulled wine, gingerbread, roasted almonds and a present for Christmas: in 2020 none of that was available – at least not at the big Christmas markets in Germany. The reason: the corona pandemic. A year later, the number of infections is at a record level and the Robert Koch Institute advises “urgently to cancel or avoid larger events if possible”. However, 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. On Monday (November 15, 2021), information about the exact concepts will be provided in Nuremberg and Augsburg.
One city has already canceled the Christmas market due to the corona situation
Ingolstadt, on the other hand, has already canceled the Christmas market due to the “dramatic” Corona situation in the hospitals. “I very much regret that, but in the current situation it is not justifiable to allow large gatherings of people,” said Ingolstadt’s Lord Mayor Christian Scharpf (SPD). This was a difficult decision, “but we have to do everything we can to ensure that health care is guaranteed in the clinic.”
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 now doing the same with the vaccination center at the Christmas market, ”said a city spokesman for the dpa news agency on Friday (November 12th, 2021).
The neighboring city of Essen has similar offers in the run-up to Christmas. At the Christmas market in the city center, the Corona vaccination bus stops near the main shopping street.
Corona rules on Christmas markets: Frankfurt wants to dispense with access restrictions
In Frankfurt they even want to do without any restrictions on access to the Christmas market. There are only two areas that are only allowed to visitors who have survived an infection with the coronavirus or who have been vaccinated against it (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 (November 12th, 2021).
In order to avoid too much crowding, however, the area of the market in the city center is to be increased significantly. On the homepage of the Frankfurt Christmas Market it says: “The Frankfurt Christmas Market 2021 will be different than 2019, but it will be an atmospheric Christmas market with everything that goes with it. We are looking forward to the twinkling lights, the happy faces and the classic Christmas market scent that will soon wander through the city again. “
Christmas markets in corona pandemic: the fairground industry is harshly criticized
Cancellations are not – at least currently – necessary in Lower Saxony. In Saxony-Anhalt there should be markets with 2G and 3G regulations. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) is calling for cancellations due to Corona. “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 (11/11/2021) in the show “Frühstart” RTL / ntv.
The fairground industry is extremely critical of the threat of further cancellations of the Christmas markets. “It is unbearable for the second winter in a row to turn your head for omissions in summer! The showmen and women, but also the inner cities threatened with desertification, need the Christmas markets to survive. Anyone who makes it impossible for us to pursue our profession again with the stroke of a pen must also answer the question of how our families survive the income-free winter break from January to March despite this massive threat to their existence, “said the President of the German Schaustellerbund, Albert Ritter, according to a press release . (tvd / dpa)
