The "Isar-Winter" started in Geretsried on Saturday: an alternative to the Christmas market, which is canceled this year due to the corona.
Geretsried
- The city of Geretsried dares.
It offers its citizens and a small group of organizers in Corona times an alternative to the traditional Christmas market.
On the four Saturdays in Advent, almost ten stands on Karl-Lederer-Platz invite you to stroll and take away typical Christmas specialties.
On Saturday, the city baptized the “Isar-Winter” series with its concerts, analogous to the “Isar Summer”.
The wooden stalls are set up at a large distance on the square in front of the Puls G building as well as between the Subway fast food and the Osiander bookstore.
There are handmade soaps and bath salts, homemade, knitted and handicrafted items, olive oil and tea from Alicante, sausages, roasted almonds and crepes.
There was no crush on the opening day.
Stefan Högl, who was represented with almonds, biscuits and gingerbread, did not expect that either.
“It's like about 30 years ago when the Christmas market took place on two weekends,” he recalls.
Back then, people didn't come until the second weekend.
The master confectioner expects more visitors on the following Saturdays.
Like many other stand operators we speak to, he calls the city's decision to organize the Isar winter "brave".
This is also easier on the spacious Karl-Lederer-Platz than in Wolfratshausen or Bad Tölz with the relatively narrow market streets there, according to Högl.
The employees of the cultural office approached them, report Carola Belloni from Eurasburg and Monika Langer from Baierbrunn, who share a stand.
The duo has already successfully offered their goods at the Waldram Christmas market in recent years - Belloni olive oil, rockrose tea and almonds from their estate in Alicante, Langer self-knitted, colorful woolen hats and gloves.
“The market is a sign that something can be done with a sensible security concept,” says Belloni.
In addition to the large distances and the mask requirement, the concept includes that food and drinks are not consumed on site, but only allowed to be taken away.
A security service ensures compliance with the rules.
The Ratsstuben team is grateful for the opportunity to sell sausages, non-alcoholic punch and hot chocolate "to go".
The three employees think the Isar winter is a good idea.
After a long Saturday shopping spree, some people pick up a savory or sweet pancake at the crêpes stand and just eat them a little off the beaten track.
The main thing is that people don't stand together in groups, as is usual at the Geretsried Christmas market.
Nevertheless you can chat a little with the other visitors or with the dealers.
“That is a factor that should not be underestimated.
There are people who are not very approachable at the moment.
They are happy to have a nice chat over the sales counter, ”says Barbara Kapfhammer from Geretsried.
Together with her daughter Miriam Dimmler, she sells tablecloths, tea towels, blankets, pillows, neck rolls and many other hand-sewn items under the “Greenies” label.
The articles are also available on the Internet, but the two women say they would like to be at least “live” at one market this year.
Both of them are pleased that the application went straight away.
Some interested parties jumped off after they had been briefed on the strict hygiene rules, says Kapfhammer, who was there for the first time at the Geretsrieder Christkindlmarkt last year.
An old friend in the Christmas market scene is Chris Weidner, who sells natural soaps on behalf of his sick wife Dana.
“Turnover is not so crucial for us this year.
We just wanted to be present and make a contribution, ”says Chris Weidner.
On the first day of the event, Birgit Lippl-Stark from Geretsried and her friend Gabriele Ludwig from Königsdorf, among others, were delighted about the small but fine range on offer.
“We don't like to buy online.
We usually go to the Christmas markets in the area every year.
It's nice that there is a replacement event here in Geretsried, ”says Lippl-Stark.
The two visitors praise “the idealism of the city and the traders”.
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