Canceled Christmas markets: showmen demand new state aid

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Set up for free: stalls at the Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt

Photo: Daniel Karmann / dpa

In view of the cancellation of many Christmas markets, the German Schaustellerbund has demanded massive state financial aid.

“There has to be one hundred percent compensation.

At least we need November and December aid, as we did last year.

Otherwise a lot of showmen are about to end, "said Albert Ritter, president of the association.

In the past few days, many Christmas markets across the country had been canceled, including the world-famous Nuremberg Christkindlesmarkt.

The stalls in Dresden's Striezelmarkt are also being dismantled again.

According to Ritter, the economic situation of the showmen is "extremely dramatic."

The federal government must make massive improvements.

“We have to make a profit.

I have the feeling that the politicians don't know what it is like to be dependent on the daily budget and to have to feed your family with it. «You can't understand that when you get a fat pension as a minister.

Despair and anger reigned among the showmen, said Ritter.

They felt abandoned by politics.

It is incomprehensible why Christmas markets with 2G rules are canceled while the catering industry is open next door.

"If Christmas markets in the open air are canceled, the young people meet at home, that makes no sense," says Ritter.

The federal government had announced that it would give more support to operators of Christmas markets.

The acting Minister of Economic Affairs Peter Altmaier (CDU) said on Wednesday that it was about easier access to equity grants.

The bridging allowance, which was limited to the end of the year, was extended until the end of March 2022.

Companies affected by the pandemic are reimbursed for fixed operating costs.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs had declared that exhibitors at Christmas markets could already receive the applicable bridging aid III Plus, for them the depreciation on perishable goods and seasonal goods was "particularly relevant".

In the case of the billions in November and December aid, companies were supported last year that had to cease business operations due to closure regulations in the federal states.

The amount of a flat fee was up to 75 percent of the respective comparable sales in the previous year.

sbo / dpa