Read the video transcript here arrow up arrow down
Jens-Werner Detels has not cut hair for almost two months.
For this he now does sport every day in his hairdressing salon in Hamburg St. Pauli.
At least physically, the 61-year-old hairdresser wants to survive the greatest doldrums in his professional life.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
"You have to stay fit in a crisis, it's no use."
And Detels turns the washstand into a packing table.
With a second leg he tries to save himself over time.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
»I haven't had any income since mid-December.
It's February now.
By the time help is available, it will probably be March and that will be a hardcore time for me with nine employees. "
Detels has fixed costs of 20,000 euros per month.
Like many other hairdressers, he is stumbling heavily financially.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
»I have to prepay
everywhere now, of course.
Well, the money will come at some point, but you'll have a few sleepless nights until then. "
Detels has been running his salon for 30 years.
He belongs to a hair-cutting dynasty - both grandfathers, mother, sister: all hairdressers.
Detels comes to his deserted shop every day.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
»I always try to keep the rhythm.
Means: I still get up early, go to the shop and try to keep myself busy somehow.
It's kind of creepy.
Is strange.
The whole area has somehow shut down.
I don't even know that here.
I've lived in St. Pauli for 40 years and there's nothing going on. "
Detels has a lot to do in his makeshift office: persuade regular customers well, talk to authorities or the tax advisor on the phone.
And: Maintain your online offer.
Fortunately for him, Detels has a second source of income.
He has been selling pomades and beard care products for five years.
And in the coming weeks he wants to expand his business.
Nina Lützelberger does not have a second mainstay like Detels.
She only comes into her parlor to water the flowers and see that things are going well.
She has come to terms with the shutdown.
Nina Lützelberger, master hairdresser
»I love my job more than anything, but it is very exhausting.
I'm looking forward to going back to work, but I also enjoy my free time. "
Lützelberger is doing poorly financially.
She is self-employed, shares the shop with a colleague, but works on her own account.
No employees, no trainees - a relief.
On the one hand.
On the other hand, Lützelberger lives from hand to mouth.
Nina Lützelberger, master hairdresser
"You think about how critical it is and how long you can just keep it up without financial support."
The fixed costs are 3,000 euros per month and there is no bridging aid from the state in sight.
Nina Lützelberger, master hairdresser
»Nobody really knows what to apply for or she.
Even my tax advisor, who is an expert, is overwhelmed.
Sometimes you can't get there either.
I already feel left alone, and I think a hell of a lot has been promised and so far, in my opinion, nothing has been kept for us. "
In his private life, Lützelberger is now saving wherever possible.
They also keep their customers afloat: with positive news and donations.
Some also asked for a private haircut.
Nina Lützelberger, master hairdresser
»I refuse, not only because it's illegal, but also because I simply don't want to have contact.
I just want ... We are locked down for reasons and I just don't want to meet strangers. "
Other hairdressers are likely to see this less strictly, many are very afraid for their existence.
With the "Licht an" campaign, the Central Association of the German Hairdressing Trade has drawn attention to the desperation in the industry. Lützelberger can understand campaigns like this in principle, but:
Nina Lützelberger, master hairdresser
»I'm afraid that there will be a third lockdown.
My fear is that the outcry, especially from us hairdressers and also from other industries, will lead to the measures being shortened rather than being paid out or providing support.
And that's a little bit of my concern. "
For Nathalie
Klimkiewicz
, the tension increases with every day of shutdown.
She is learning to be a hairdresser in her second year.
Nathalie Klimkiewicz, trainee hairdresser
»The thing I am most afraid of is my exam.
Especially because I have the last reminder that I didn't get the men's haircut in the allotted time.
And if that is or remains the last memory I have of it, then I go in there with a very bad feeling. "
She last used 80 minutes for the men's haircut.
But she only has an hour for her mid-term exam in April.
Nathalie's problem: At the moment she is not allowed to practice on living models.
Nathalie Klimkiewicz, trainee hairdresser
»If you were to cut the doll's head above all, you would achieve completely different results, no matter how well you cut.
Well, it's just a craft and with craft it's just really important that you don't get out of it.
And especially for us as apprentices, who can't do it so perfectly yet and have not yet got it in their hands, let me say, it's just very, very important. "
After all: Financially, Nathalie is no worse off than before the shutdown, but that's not too reassuring for her.
Nathalie Klimkiewicz, trainee hairdresser
»Well, I'll still get my money, but I still want to learn the trade.
I don't want to finish my apprenticeship and be the worst hairdresser in the world, because I could hardly do any practical work.
The good thing is that the profession won't die out because people need hairdressers. "
Back to St. Pauli, where Jens-Werner Detels is working on his Plan B.
So far he has been selling his pomades and beard care products on the usual sales platforms on the Internet, but now he wants to use the shutdown time and make himself more independent.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
»I am in the process of starting my
own web shop.
At the moment, this is also being promoted by these corona measures. "
There are still a few phone calls to be made before the small risk is set up.
For Detels and many other hairdressers, the following applies now: hold out until life is more normal again.
Jens-Werner Detels, master hairdresser
»Then you're on hold, then you can't get through.
Is exhausting for me.
I prefer to cut hair. "
