It's already Christmas - at least as far as the plans for the Christmas markets in the country are concerned. After two difficult Corona years, there will be gingerbread, almonds and sociable shivering at the mulled wine stand again this year. So everything like before? Nearly.
Karlsruhe (dpa/lsw) - Because of Corona, things have looked rather bleak for the Christmas markets in the southwest in the past two years. That will finally be different again this year - the cities in the state have been planning with zeal for a long time and are expecting great public interest. "People are starving, they finally want to go back to their usual Christmas market," said Heidelberg Marketing Managing Director Mathias Schiemer. More than 100 stands have been registered, "we have a lot of inquiries," he reported. Although some dealers have staffing problems, by and large the showmen are back in Heidelberg as they were before the pandemic.
A slight decline in registrations is reported from Pforzheim, Karlsruhe and Ludwigsburg: Ludwigsburg expects around 15 percent fewer stands than before the pandemic. "But overall, visitors get a familiar picture," said the Deputy Managing Director of Tourism
Around 3.5 million visitors and well over 200 stands are expected in Stuttgart. Just as many interested parties registered as in previous years. Over 90 percent of the stands in Esslingen are also occupied again, and the city is expecting between 800,000 and one million visitors. "But we have serious concerns about the Christmas market industry if the market has to be canceled again this year," said a city spokesman.
That won't happen - Mark Roschmann from the Showmen's Association South-West Stuttgart is confident. He looks pretty happy towards the Christmas market season and also to the past few months with folk festivals and fairs. "Our product is in demand like never before," he says. "I don't know of any colleague who says things are going badly." However, inflation and a continuing lack of staff caused problems for the showmen and stallholders. In addition, around 20 percent of the municipalities would have increased demurrage by up to 5 percent. "Right now - I think that's awful," he said. "We can't pass on all the costs to the visitors."
But it should be festive everywhere - albeit with a little less lighting and other cost-saving measures. Because of the energy crisis, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, for example, do without an ice rink and rely on a roller skating rink. And Pforzheim is not building a track made of ice this year, but one made of plastic.
In Mannheim, savings are also being made and the lighting of the market at the water tower is only switched on at around 4.30 p.m. instead of at 11 a.m. in the morning. Ludwigsburg does without chains of lights in the trees along its main street. According to the cities, what is still lit up has often been equipped with LED bulbs for years anyway. Esslingen has relied entirely on LED technology since 2015.
Last year, many municipalities had either canceled their Christmas markets as a precautionary measure due to strict corona test rules or had to close them after a few opening days on the instructions of the state. The year before, the pandemic had thwarted showmen and stand operators.
Now the future looks rosier - but not everywhere: For Freudenstadt, the Christmas market crisis is not over yet this year. The market was canceled in mid-September. Only 20 exhibitors had registered for 60 stands.
