Despite the corona lockdown and numerous appeals not to go on trips to winter resorts, there is a real rush to Germany's ski regions.
Now the first places had to be cordoned off.
Offenbach / Winterberg - The
onslaught of the crowds
on Germany's mountain regions is huge, despite all Corona restrictions: Countless hikers and tobogganers are drawn to the Sauerland, the Feldberg, Bavaria or the Harz Mountains at the beginning of the year.
Corona in Germany: huge rush to mountain regions - entry ban for Winterberg
Now there are even the first
road closures and entry bans
, such as for
Winterberg in North Rhine-Westphalia
.
As the city announced in a press release on Saturday, the ski areas in the Hochsauerlandkreis were so overrun by day tourists that the
ski areas or the access roads to the ski areas
in the cities of Sundern and Schmallenberg
were
closed
.
In Winterberg, the B480 was also blocked as the main access route.
Police and regulatory authorities wrote advertisements for numerous
violations of the corona protective measures
, as a spokeswoman for the city of Winterberg in Sauerland said.
Long lines of cars and traffic jams formed in the snow-covered towns.
Our press release on today's deployment: https: //t.co/qMqODQIu8r
- Police NRW HSK (@polizei_nrw_hsk) January 2, 2021
From
January 3 to January 10, 2021
, the city of Winterberg has now issued a
ban
on
entering the
following areas: slopes in Altastenberg, Neuastenberg, Niedersfeld, Winterberg, Züschen and the associated parking spaces.
In addition, the area around the Kahler Asten and the large car park in Bremberg.
Practically nobody is coming in now
, said a spokeswoman for the city of Winterberg.
"We were still banned from entering last night, but people came back here anyway," she reported.
Hopefully now they would turn around and drive back.
I just want to go through the Sauerland, not in .... I promise;) #Winterberg pic.twitter.com/nPCoPwfdpy
- Katrin (@ nimue47) January 3, 2021
Lifts and slopes as well as restaurants and huts are therefore closed until at least January 10th.
The operators of the winter sports arena and the ski lift carousel in Winterberg refer to the current restrictions on their website and appeal to the otherwise welcome tourists.
On the homepage it says:
“The order of the day is: avoid contact!
We love our mountains.
You also determine: But in these times we have to let this love rest, because the onslaught leads to traffic jams and crowds.
Congested streets, lack of parking spaces and lots of potential contacts.
Who would want that?
Don't do this to yourself!
We like the hustle and bustle - in normal times.
But what is normal in these times?
Toboggan lifts and ski lifts are closed.
There are no opportunities to warm up or go to the toilet.
point out that there are therefore no toilets and no opportunities to warm up for day trippers - and that there are no rescuers on site.
“We love our mountains,” they say.
“But in these times we have to let this love rest, because the rush leads to traffic jams and crowds.
Congested streets, lack of parking spaces and lots of potential contacts.
Who wants that? "
+
Despite appeals to refrain from excursions during the corona lockdown, many people romp with their sledges on a snow-covered slope on Winterberg in North Rhine-Westphalia.
© Marius Becker / dpa
Rush despite Corona lockdown: "Chaos to the power of three - everything collapses"
All requests for waiver were of
little
use
in the Harz region
: the parking spaces were already full again on Sunday morning, as a police spokesman said.
Bundesstraße 4 also had to be temporarily closed on one side at the exit of Bad Harzburg in the direction of Torfhaus, as there were traffic jams and some cars had already broken down.
❌Traffic situation in the Upper Harz
Update 10.45 a.m.
➡ L 504 one-way street Altenau Rtg.
#Torfhaus
🅿 Torfhaus 100% occupied
🅿 # Oderbrück 100% occupied
🅿 #Hahnenklee 80% occupied
🅿 Parking spaces #Sonnenberg 80% @ BremenPolizei @PolizeiHamburg @Polizei_Thuer @Polizei_GOE
* et pic.twitter.com/DsK2peeEH7
- Police Goslar (@Polizei_GS) January 3, 2021
The situation was similar on Saturday:
"We have chaos to the power of three, everything collapses,"
said a spokesman for the Goslar police station at noon.
“Almost nothing works anymore, some cars have broken down.
There's too much going on. ”On toboggan mountains like the Hexenritt descent on Wurmberg, the masses romped about, and day trippers ran close together on hiking trails.
Authorities and the police had previously repeatedly asked not to go on trips to the mountains during the corona lockdown - and yet there was another rush of tobogganers and hikers.
Rush at the Feldberg in Hessen - access roads blocked
The
onslaught of day trippers longing for snow
also continued on the
Großer Feldberg in Hesse
.
Around the highest peak in the Taunus it is
"as chaotic as the last few days,"
said a police spokesman in Königstein.
Numerous day trippers are out and about despite the closed access to the summit, streets in the villages around the Feldberg are blocked.
In the Rhön, too, on the first Saturday of the year, many people were drawn outside and to the Wasserkuppe, Hesse's highest mountain.
“It's full,” said a police spokesman in Fulda.
On
Sunday morning
, the police finally driveways Schmitten (Dorfweil) and glassworks (Oberems) decided to Feldberg in the area
shut off
.
Outsiders were sent home again.
In the past few days, the cars had been
jammed for kilometers
in some excursion destinations
.
+++ AVOID EXCURSION AREAS IN HIGH ALTITUDE +++
Due to the high number of visitors, several access roads are currently closed.
We are on site with many additional officials. # Feldberg #Hochtaunus #RheingauTaunus #Wiesbaden #LimburgWeilburg
PLEASE STAY AT HOME TODAY
- Police West Hesse (@Polizei_WH) January 3, 2021
In the Bavarian Oberland, too, countless excursionists cause trouble.
Drivers with Munich license plates can expect a self-made sign with a clear hateful message in Miesbach.
Even on Brauneck, despite the Corona lockdown, there are “an awful lot of people”.
(va)