Christmas markets in Lower Saxony: "It's never been so sad"

Created: 12/22/2021 Updated: 12/22/2021, 5:25 PM

By: Andree Wächter

Drinking mulled wine at a Christmas market was associated with some hurdles like 2G-plus this year.

© Monika Skolimowska / dpa

The season of the Christmas markets is coming to an end.

The conclusion of the organizers and showmen is not surprising: catastrophic.

Hildesheim / Bremen - “It's never been so sad,” says Olaf Helmens and looks at his children's carousel.

The 66-year-old has been at the Hildesheim Christmas market with his ride for 40 years.

His expectations are gloomy: So far it looks as if he will not even generate half of the sales from the pre-Corona year 2019.

"2G plus was the broken neck," says Helmens.

The 2G-plus regulation applies to restaurants and rides at the Christmas markets in Lower Saxony.

All other Christmas markets in the country were affected.

In Oldenburg the lights went out on the 2nd Advent.

In Verden, too, at some point it no longer made sense.

Due to the stricter corona rules, hardly anyone had access to the stalls for food and drinks at the Christmas market.

Sales brought nothing more.

In order not to get even further into the red, the market feeders drew the consequences under the umbrella of the Events for Verden Association.

Many smaller Christmas markets that were only planned for a day or a weekend were completely canceled.

Christmas market: 2G Plus was the broken neck

There are only a few people at the sausage stand at the Hildesheim Christmas market on this gloomy December day.

“We have never had such a quiet Christmas market,” says salesman Mike Witte.

Above all, he finds it bad that he is insulted every day by angry customers who reject the strict measures.

But the sausage seller cannot send them away - he depends on your money.

Rosemariekap stands with her stand behind the Hildesheim town hall.

She sells baked ham, potato noodles and sauerkraut.

Despite the modest turnover, she is happy to have been able to open at all.

Many customers are grateful, reports the 59-year-old.

The Christmas market ends there on December 22nd.

The situation is precarious to catastrophic

Kevin Kratzsch, Chairman of the Lower Saxony Showmen Association

The Showman Association of Lower Saxony reports that many stand operators have suffered significant financial losses due to the strict Corona rules on the markets. Compared to 2019, his colleagues currently only generate an average of 15 to 20 percent of sales, says Chairman Kevin Kratzsch. "The situation is dicey to catastrophic." The 2G-plus regulation makes a spontaneous visit to the Christmas market difficult, criticizes Kratzsch. He also suspects that, out of fear, many people prefer to stay at home this year and forego a mulled wine in a good atmosphere.

After many events and traditional folk festivals were canceled during the pandemic, this time the showmen invested a lot of effort and money for the Christmas markets to set up their stands, hire staff and buy goods, says Kratzsch.

In the meantime, however, various cities have decided to close their markets early, for example in Osnabrück, Hameln and Göttingen.

“Many of my colleagues are almost desperate.” In Göttingen, there was still the Göttingen drive-in winter market.

Christmas market 2021: often negative business

For the stand operators in Hanover, this year's Christmas market is even more of negative business, according to him. Nevertheless, the many colleagues are happy that, unlike other cities in Lower Saxony, they do not have to close, reports the chairman of the showmen's association. From his point of view, his colleagues also have an emotional mission: to bring joy to people.

The Bremen Christmas market is also open despite Corona.

For many years, a brush-making shop has had its stand there, framed by the historic town hall, the Roland statue and the citizenship. Dish brushes in all sizes, nail brushes, massage brushes, special goat hair blind brushes, wooden spoons and many other utensils are sorted into small, clearly arranged boxes or dangling on a string.

“It's always my best time,” says Inka Stratmann happily about her annual Christmas market.

Christmas market in Bremen fell in water in 2020

In 2020 the Bremen Christmas market was canceled completely.

And there is not really much going on this year either.

The situation is bad, says Inka Stratmann.

“I've never sat so much before,” said the saleswoman, who is happy to show customers the different types of brushes and explain them in German and English.

“Maybe a third of sales,” she estimates compared to 2019.

However, she praises the fact that all customers are very insightful and disciplined in complying with the Corona rules.

At the beginning, the vaccination certificates including ID cards had to be checked at the stands.

However, the city has made improvements and the 2G requirement is now being controlled centrally and documented with a small ribbon.

The Schlachte magic was also affected.

"The tourists are missing," says Susanne Keuneke, chairwoman of the Bremen showmen and market merchants' association.

One Christmas market that has also lasted is the one in Weyhe.

However, the 2G plus rule also led to a significant drop in visitors.

(With material from dpa) * Kreiszeitung.de, is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.