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St. Bartholomä Chapel at Königssee: "We are insulted as mask Nazis"
Photo: Lino Mirgeler / dpa
The house from which the bad news comes is right at the entrance to Bad Reichenhall, a two-story building with a green metal facade next to the busy main road.
District offices look similarly functional in many places in Germany, that of the Berchtesgadener Land is currently the most prominent.
"Entry only after request" can be read at the entrance.
The citizens who queue up there want to get a new license plate, an ID card or just the right garbage bags.
A security employee receives the concerns at an outdoor table and calls the responsible employee.
Every now and then a soldier in camouflage comes outside to smoke a cigarette, it's very orderly.
The drama, the uncertainty, the stress of the authorities: they are mainly reflected in the numbers.
The latest corona incidence value for the Berchtesgadener Land is 278.49 infected people per 100,000 inhabitants, which is currently the highest in Germany.
64 confirmed cases have been added.
13 Covid patients currently have to be treated in the hospital, one in the intensive care unit.
The 55 tracing followers of the health department are supported by 40 soldiers, these are the people in Flecktarn.
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Police officers in Berchtesgaden: The streets are almost free of passers-by
Photo: Lennart Preiss / Getty Images
"The events are spread across the entire district," explains District Administrator Bernhard Kern on the phone, "you can't narrow it down."
When determining the contacts, you would just be able to find out, "it's not like something is left behind."
For the strict general decree issued by him, the following applies: "The figures prove us right".
For the time being, until November 2, particularly tough corona rules apply in Berchtesgadener Land: Citizens are only allowed to leave their apartments with good reason.
Holiday guests had to leave, a long departure traffic jam formed on the main road.
Some returning travelers have already tested positive in their hometowns.
Restaurants are only allowed to offer take-away food, baths and cable cars are closed.
The pupils and kindergarten children should only return after the autumn break.
Businesses are also hit hard: the Fischer furniture store at the junction to the district office, for example, lacks customers from Austria.
A total of three customers were there in the morning, explains branch manager Alexander Eisenmann.
"We are preparing for a very quiet time."
Antipole to Berlin-Neukölln
Quiet, clean, orderly: The Berchtesgadener Land is the antithesis to lively districts like Berlin-Neukölln.
Only 105,000 people live in the district, 126 per square kilometer.
All around snow, rock, forests.
Seniors in particular appreciate the alpine atmosphere.
Many barrier-free condominiums are currently being built in the region.
The climatic health resorts advertise relaxation seekers with respiratory diseases, and there is a large-scale smoking ban in front of the rehabilitation clinic at the spa park in Bad Reichenhall.
And now this: Corona hotspot.
Statistically, the status is paradoxically a consequence of the void.
Because in the Berchtesgadener Land a few medium-sized clusters are enough to push the district up the scale - one of the weaknesses when the incidence values alone are used as a benchmark.
And what else is it?
Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) named parties as a starting point.
In the district, rumors and indications of infections circulate at various celebrations, including in an alpine hut, a shisha bar, at a garage party.
Officials are also said to have celebrated.
Little can be proven.
"The main outbreak event started from a private celebration," says the district office.
Another theory: the proximity to Austria.
The local hotspot Kuchl is close by, people from the Berchtesgadener Land like to go out in Salzburg, but it is uncertain which virus entries there were.
Mask morality too lax?
Lukas Harkotte has another explanation: the decline in discipline.
The 22-year-old bookseller with the blond curly hair is sitting in a park in downtown Bad Reichenhall, he's just having lunch break.
"The increase in the number of cases also has to do with the fact that the measures were not implemented," says Harkotte.
"Especially when there is a diffuse occurrence, then you have to control everything."
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Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber at a press conference in Bad Reichenhall: "I understand the anger when guests have to leave"
Photo: Peter Kneffel / dpa
But there was not much to see of controls before the strict general decree.
The mask morality has become more and more lax.
"I kept having to argue with customers who refused to cover their mouth and nose."
It is actually not his job: "I am a retailer, I am there for people, not against them".
Harkotte: "Now the exponential growth is there, it could have been prevented."
Some time ago he wrote to the district administrator: "I can imagine that you don't want to scare away tourists with controls, but a second lockdown would probably damage city tourism more."
Harkotte received an answer from the health department, he was thanked for the "frank words", it was important "that we all adhere to the legal requirements".
The local newspaper published an article entitled "We are being insulted as masked Nazis" about Harkotte, who wants to continue to campaign for more discipline.
A very good summer
The region has had a very good summer in terms of tourism, and masses of people followed Söder's call to go on vacation in Bavaria.
In photogenic locations, visitors stepped on their feet, the business of hoteliers and restaurateurs was booming - with low infection rates.
Now the relationship has been reversed, after the overcrowding, the problem is again the absence of tourists.
The souvenir shops at Königssee are closed due to a lack of customers, as is the Romy Schneider exhibition, and a few mountain bikers are practicing on the huge empty parking lot.
"Locals don't buy souvenirs," says Brigitte Schlögl.
She is the managing director of Berchtesgadener Land Tourismus GmbH.
From her bright new office in the center of Berchtesgaden, Schlögl looks out onto an almost pedestrian-free main shopping street.
The restrictions affect all tourism.
"The industry is not the culprit, it is now a blow in the stomach for them."
She is reluctant to criticize the measures.
"It is now a shot across the bow for everyone: gentlemen, some of them may have been too careless," says the tourism manager.
Her hope: "That we won't become a permanent hotspot, but that people will come back soon."
The increasing numbers are now also reflected in the hospitals, warns Michaela Kaniber, the rural minister of agriculture.
She is currently in the car, between Munich and her constituency.
Kaniber is something like the temporary crisis officer for Söder's state government and takes part in the meetings of the local staff.
The medical capacities are still sufficient, but with further exponential growth there is a risk of medical undersupply.
Kaniber originally comes from a host family
,
her sister runs a hotel.
"I understand the anger when guests have to leave," says the minister
.
"But it is particularly important for a tourism region to protect locals and guests."
Your appeal: "We now have to take powerful measures," says Kaniber.
"We should refrain from distributing the buck. It's about stopping the wave of infections."
The republic is now looking at how the region is coping with the challenge.
"That has an effect throughout Germany."
Several lawsuits and urgent motions against the strict measures in the Berchtesgadener Land have already been received at the Munich Administrative Court.
Most people, however, accept them.
Some send little videos back and forth to cheer each other up.
One shows the prime minister.
During assembly, Prime Minister Markus Söder is given a modified claim that everyone in Bavaria is familiar with.
"I'm Markus, and I'm staying at home now."
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