With the dissolution of the cultural working group, the long-standing organizer of the Dorfen Christmas market breaks away.
But the city or the support group cannot take over either.
Dorfen
- This year the Christmas market is canceled in Dorfen. With the cultural circle, the traditional booth magic is also retiring. The association, which had organized the market for over 40 years, disbanded a good week ago. This also means the end of the Advent event on the Lower Market. But even before the working group was dissolved, in August, long-time chairman Anton Kremser announced that the association would not hold a Christmas market because of the pandemic.
Now, after the association was dissolved, Mayor Heinz Grundner was looking for a replacement and hoped for quick help from the Dorfen sponsorship group. In vain, the sponsorship group cannot and does not want to step into the breach at such short notice. "The Christmas market will be canceled this year - too many editions and too few exhibitors, they are all already in other markets," explains chairman Stefan Tremmel when asked.
"And if there were only three or four stalls - that wouldn't be anything", adds the Förderkreis boss, who would be happy if the restaurateurs in the city center offered at least mulled wine to go. The support group and its members rely on a lively city center. "Even if it doesn't work out this year, there will be events again next year - including the Christmas market," he promises. After all, the equipment for the Advent atmosphere is available on the Unter Markt.
"That was all too uncertain for us, the organization of the Christmas market needs to be done in advance," said Kremser, explaining the rejection that he had given the city in August.
In his opinion, not only sales stands belong to a market, but also conviviality and of course mulled wine: "It was not certain whether this was allowed - and nobody wanted to check the visitors and their vaccination status."
At least those were the pandemic-related reasons for the second out of the Christmas market in a row, because last year there were neither stands nor Christmas music at the lower market.
The working group was not able to organize the marketplace festival in Corona year 2021.
And then it was clear for a long time: The traditional association will have to dissolve because there is no board and the active members are now almost all well over 60 years old.
"This is a severe blow to the cultural landscape in Dorfen, a traditional column is breaking down," says Grundner with regret.
The Christkindlmarkt in particular was one of the annual crowd pullers, according to Wolfgang Lanzinger, who is already involved in the cultural working group.
He hopes that there will be even younger and more active people from the village who will keep the tradition alive.
With the stalls painted by Annemarie Werhazy, which represent the facades of the historic houses on the Unteren Markt, the Dorfener Christkindlmarkt was "a city within the city" - "without a doubt one of the most beautiful markets of its kind far and wide and incomparable in its kind", so the deputy headmaster of the Dorfener Gymnasium.
The special thing about it: “It was not just about culinary offers, but also about cultural contributions.” For example the “living nativity scene” or the wind instruments and the annual flute concert.
MICHAELE HESKE