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The water tower in downtown Mannheim
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
This could be the setting from a Sherlock movie.
Three degrees Celsius, foggy light under dim street lamps.
200 meters of cobblestone pavement on which nobody can be seen.
But this isn't the East End of London.
And it's not four in the morning either.
It's 9:15 p.m. This is downtown Mannheim, a quarter of an hour after the republic's first curfew began in Mannheim.
It should apply until December 13th.
Here, a few hundred meters from the market square, life is usually raging.
"Normal", of course, didn't just mean yesterday: before Corona.
But even 24 hours earlier, on Thursday, there was a lot going on here at the same time.
In a street where snack after snack and kiosk after kiosk are lined up in a prime city location, there was quite a crush on the sidewalks in the evening even when pubs and restaurants are closed.
There was enough to eat and drink.
In the second largest city in Baden-Württemberg, whose city center is strangely divided into squares, people met on the street.
In G2 to G7 it was the same today.
But both here, where the cars roar by while cruising, as well as in the more dignified residential areas on the outskirts, there is a calm today, as if you were not in Mannheim.
But in a village in the nearby Odenwald.
The only sound is that of your own steps
From 8 p.m. the streets become increasingly empty, at 9 p.m. all shops and snack bars are closed.
Hardly any passengers can be found on the trams after 10 p.m.
Shortly after 9 p.m. at the level of the Odeon art house cinema ("Mannheim remains strong") the only sound is that of one's own steps.
He is thrown back unchecked by driveways.
The five young men who were just standing in front of "Selman Döner" are gone too.
The light has gone out inside.
The two bearded people in their mid-twenties who bought a box of Bavarian light beer in front of the kiosk have long since disappeared.
They had just said they had an appointment "at home" with another friend.
There aren't that many alternatives right now.
"Come as you are" is meanwhile written in curved light pink neon letters in "Maria Jungbusch - Gin, wine, whiskey".
The bar had already closed the day before.
Today not even passers-by who are who they are will pass by.
There are no rebellious lateral thinkers here, there are not even people who borrow neighbors' puppies so that they can roam the streets despite the curfew
Mannheim counted 1,700 active cases on Friday evening, the 7-day incidence was 224. Other cities like Nuremberg in Franconia had already issued "exit restrictions" in the past few days.
Mannheim is now the first major city to apply the stricter »curfew«, as decided by Baden-Württemberg for all areas with more than 200 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants per week.
In addition to Mannheim, Pforzheim and Heilbronn, three rural districts were also above this value.
Even stricter everyday rules now apply to 1.1 million people.
Since Friday everyone in Mannheim has to be at home at 9 p.m. who cannot make it plausible that they are either still outside due to work, that they have to take care of an emergency, or that they have to go for a walk with their dog.
The police had already announced on Thursday "mobile and stationary controls", Lord Mayor Peter Kurz (SPD) a massive increase in the municipal security staff.
They can impose a fine of up to 100 euros for an offense.
In fact, there were a few police officers and security guards in front of the train station on Friday evening.
In the case of larger gatherings of people, it was said in advance, one would intervene.
Fines of around 100 euros would then be due.
In fact, there are always police cars patrolling G, H and Jungbusch.
However, you seem completely relaxed.
If now and then someone comes across who is still on the street at 11 p.m., they drive past or exchange a few words in a friendly manner.
There are no rebelling lateral thinkers here, there are not even people who borrow neighbors' puppies so that they can roam the streets despite the curfew.
That can come as a surprise.
A curfew is a serious encroachment on fundamental rights; it amounts to house arrest for adults who do not have to be told where to stay between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Unless you live in a city that has 1,700 active corona cases and has been hoping for weeks that the number of infections will finally fall.
It wasn't that long ago, in such an emergency, people would have run through the streets with megaphones to announce the warnings.
The newspapers printed special editions.
When people in street sections G and H today are asked how they know that December 4th, 9 p.m., would mark a turning point, they point to their cell phones.
In any case, everyone here knows that there is a curfew in Mannheim.
In any case, there are seldom people this year who end up in police checks because they don't have the news on their screen.
"Must be".
This is the sentence a takeaway operator said on Friday when he was asked about the curfew.
Shortly before, he had passed a kebab to an SUV driver through the open side window.
He did not want to accept the 5 euro note.
"Regular," he says.
"He'll be back."
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