Two years of pandemic: This is how Corona has changed us - Munich celebrities look back

Created: 01/22/2022, 09:25 am

By: Nadja Hoffmann, Armin Geier

The corona virus still has Munich firmly under control.

You can see that here at a shop on the Viktualienmarkt.

© Peter Kneffel/dpa

On January 27, 2020, Germany's first corona case became known in Munich.

Almost two years later we take stock.

Celebrities share their experiences. 

Munich – At the end of January 2020, the first corona case became known in Munich*.

It's been exactly two years now.

Since then, the pandemic has demanded a lot from all of us: we had to forgo contacts, travel, family celebrations - and joie de vivre.

In addition, there is the constant fear of infection and, for many, fear for their existence.

We spoke to six celebrities and asked: How has this difficult time of the pandemic changed you?

Actress Angela Ascher: Always on the go by bike in Munich

Being at home in two cities brings a lot of variety.

Especially when it comes to beautiful places like Munich and Vienna.

The double residence was a special feature in the life of actress Angela Ascher (44), which Corona* took away from her.

It quickly became apparent: “Commuting no longer works.” The border was partly closed, and Austria repeatedly became a high-risk area, including quarantine requirements.

All this collided with the large amount of work that never ended.

Actress Angela Asher.

© Tobias Hase/dpa

Next, for example, Ascher can be seen on January 31 on the

program Home of Records (8:15 p.m.).

In the summer of 2020, the actress, who mimed Ilse Aigner, President of the State Parliament in the Nockherberg Singspiel, decided entirely on Munich.

Her best purchase at the time: a mountain bike.

"I don't have a car," she explains.

But there is a great desire to simply cycle any route.

"It doesn't matter what the weather is." On the one hand, that keeps you fit.

On the other hand, it makes it possible to feel the city in a completely new way.

"For example, I drive to Maxvorstadt and just let myself drift there." Or to the weekly market on St.-Anna-Platz, she reveals one of her favorite destinations.

Humorist Fredl Fesl: Less contact with his grandchildren – "It hurts then"

Sometimes, when all this pandemic madness gets too much, Fredl Fesl (74) gets in the car - in the passenger seat.

And his wife Monika drives off: “Somewhere.

Into the nature.

Out.

For example to the Chiemsee, just to admire the sunset there.” His wife also photographed him there recently.

Two years of Corona*, two years of isolation: "If someone had told you that before, you would have said: 'He's crazy'." Because of his Parkinson's disease, Fredl naturally has to be particularly careful not to get infected.

"We're vaccinated.

But all the time I was even more at home than usual.”

Humorist Fredl Fesl.

© Tobias Hase/dpa

At home – that is his farm near Pleiskirchen (near Mühldorf). If the weather permits, the popular Bavarian is often outside - often with the dog Mogli. For a walk? "To be honest, not so much because I often have trouble walking. But I like to doze off on the porch – and Mowgli will watch over me then.” What also really annoys the family man is that he has been able to see his grandchildren less these months – out of caution. "That hurts." In addition, many visits to friends or to concerts by colleagues fell flat. Monika and Fredl have already become a bit sadder at this time: "It feels like a horror film at times." And they both hope that the credits will come out soon.

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Cabaret artist Ottfried Fischer: "I can't stand the curfew"

The pandemic - it made Ottfried Fischer (68) even more thoughtful.

"I racked my brains a lot during this time," says the popular cabaret artist, who now lives in Passau.

“About all sorts of things.” He put some of it down on paper.

"Besides, I no longer go out into the fresh air if I don't have to," he says with a wink.

Every morning he first reads the newspaper and then – as he notes – lets himself be driven insane by “the unreasonableness of those who refuse to vaccinate”.

Cabaret artist Ottfried Fischer.

© Armin Weigel/dpa

What also bothers him: that he has hardly been able to travel in all these months: “Not even to Lake Garda to get some warmth.

Some joie de vivre.” And his visits to the inn often fall through the cracks.

"The curfew is now much too early, I can't stand it." And if he gets bored at home?

Then Otti reads a few of his favorite books again: “Like Karl Kraus.

He wrote the drama 'The Last Days of Mankind'." But the cabaret artist remains optimistic: "At some point it will all pass here too."

Ex-Wiesn host Wiggerl Hagn: "A host does not retire"

65 years of host at the Wiesn, 40 of them as head of the Löwenbräu tent: it is a whole era that Wiggerl Hagn shaped at the Munich festival.

A world that now seems very far away.

Also, but not only because of Corona.

In 2019, the 82-year-old handed over the Oktoberfest business to his daughter Stephanie Spendler.

Saying goodbye to the Wiesn: "It wasn't easy for me at the beginning," admits the longtime host spokesman.

But then came the pandemic anyway, which has meant the end of the Wiesn for the past two years.

"Without being able to do anything about it."

Ex-Wiesn host Wiggerl Hagn (left) next to Toni Roiderer.

© Sabine Dobel/dpa

It was much easier for the gastro veteran to hand over the second major topic in his life: the Hirschau restaurant, which is now run by his grandson Lukas Spendler and has been completely reorganized under the name 1804.

"You have to give young people the chance to make their own experiences," says the head of the family.

Sure, he always gives advice or his point of view with all his wealth of experience.

"But I'm no longer active in the business." As soon as I said it, the likeable Bavarian paused and added.

"But an innkeeper doesn't retire." He is now something like the gray eminence in the background, you can find him in the Hirschau office, where he supports the family business.

"There's always something to do."

Presenter Nina Ruge: Thanks to the empty schedule for the bestseller book

Congress halls with large stages and exciting live events: All of this was part of everyday life for Nina Ruge - before Corona.

"I didn't do any more television," says the longtime "People Today" presenter.

She was often booked as a moderator for congresses and events.

"My calendar was full," the 65-year-old recalls.

Then came the pandemic* and brought one cancellation after another.

A completely new situation for Nina Ruge, who works freelance.

Presenter Nina Ruge.

© Ursula Düren/dpa

Today she knows: The empty schedule should prove to be a gift for the Munich native. When Corona broke out, the author was working on her 25th book. "I had the time to really delve into it." With success: "Aging can be cured: staying young with the power of the three cell competencies" was published in June 2020 and promptly ended up in the bestseller lists. The topic, which is far less important in Germany than in other countries, hits the nerve of the times. Many readers contacted the sympathetic author. Result: A year later she published the practical book "Rejuvenation is possible: Scientifically researched - what really helps". And landed another bestseller. Nina Ruge is currently working on the next book. She takes part in specialist congresses virtually and exchanges ideas with doctors and scientists on the computer.Is on topic. Another world away from glamour, where she celebrates success.

Musician Günther Sigl: "My life has changed completely"

Being a musician in Corona times - not an easy game.

"Actually, I've been unemployed for two years," says Günther Sigl (74), singer of the legendary Spider Murphy Gang.

The band had to cancel umpteen performances in the past two years of the pandemic.

"My life has completely changed," explains the artist.

"You have to be careful not to become completely lethargic.

Every day is somehow interchangeable.” Like so many people, Sigl also spends more time alone.

“When I get up in the morning, I usually do a round of power walking.

At least that's how I move around regularly.” The musician often sits in his own studio in the basement of his house in the afternoon and works on new songs.

"Or I play a little right upstairs on my corner seat."

Musician Günther Sigl.

© Matthias Balk/dpa

Of course, the whole band meets up for rehearsals from time to time.

"We're all vaccinated.

The risk is smaller there.

But at my age, of course, you make sure that you don't catch the virus." What the musician has discovered for himself during this isolation period: the Internet and especially YouTube.

"In the evenings I often spend hours looking at old recordings of Elvis or the Shadows.

A great thing and very inspiring.” But playing live in front of an audience – there is no substitute for that.

"I now hope that the virus situation will improve again in the summer and that we can give concerts again," said Sigl.

“Because that is the elixir of life for all of us.”