There will be no Christmas markets in the Würmtal this year in the usual form.
Some have already been canceled, others are slimmed down.
This could have consequences for needy Würmtaler.
Würmtal -
On the first weekend in Advent there are 27 stalls close to each other around the Gautingen town hall.
Not this year.
“You can't do that like that,” says the chairman of the trade association together for Gauting (ZfG), Christiane Ruhbaum, who organizes the Christmas market.
"It will not take place in its current form." Now it is to be slimmed down.
There will be no Christmas market in Krailling and Neuried this year.
The organizers have too much planning uncertainty.
In Graefelfing, Jan Konarski, who is responsible for the Christmas market, is still working on a solution.
“We don't want to cancel it,” he says.
"We will certainly not be able to offer a stage on which the children sing." But he can imagine fewer stands and those with more distance.
"We are in the process of creating a concept."
Funding association would hit rejection hard
A solution is currently also being worked on in Planegg.
The community tends to cancel the Christmas markets in Planegg and Martinsried, explains spokeswoman Martina Sohn.
But a rejection in the 40th year of its existence would hit the Friends of Martinsried Christmas Market particularly hard.
The Christkindlmarkt is the club's figurehead.
He is known for this, with which he collects donations to support needy Würmtaler.
Corona has ensured that the number of people in need in the Würmtal increases, reports the spokeswoman for the Friends' Association Karina Kalkühler.
Many people complain about loss of earnings and can no longer make ends meet. “We need more money.” The association currently doesn't need a loss of earnings.
“What we take in through the Christmas market, we distribute in the following year.
If the figurehead is missing, it will be bad in the coming year, she says.
The community knows the problem.
Karina Kalkühler and Martina Sohn are therefore working together on a concept.
So that the association can show presence in Advent and sell stollen, wooden toys and other products, it should possibly get a stand at the weekly market in the run-up to Christmas.
Kalkühler: "It would be a shame if we all had to eat the jams that have already been cooked down ourselves." However, nothing has been decided yet, so Sohn and Kalkühler.
Sale of Advent wreaths as a replacement
In Neuried, too, people have come up with something to avoid having to cancel the Christmas market without replacement.
There, too, the income is usually used for charitable purposes.
The parish of St. Nikolaus always supports two projects, explains parish secretary Gabriele Somann.
This year there will therefore be a sale of Advent wreaths instead of stalls and stands.
The pandemic clearly shows that the Christmas markets in the Würmtal are not just about socializing.
The consequences of the canceled markets could be far-reaching for people in need in the Würmtal.
