Bavaria: Biden and his departure: freezing because of the US President

The US President has left Upper Bavaria - which means that many blocks and restrictions for citizens have come to an end.

Bavaria: Biden and his departure: freezing because of the US President

The US President has left Upper Bavaria - which means that many blocks and restrictions for citizens have come to an end. When he left, Joe Biden probably didn't make too many new friends with the people of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen (dpa / lby) - Because of the departure of US President Joe Biden from Schloss Elmau, there were again some restrictions for many people in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Tuesday. Although Biden was still smiling and waving at the cameras in the conference hotel, the central federal highway 2 in the city was already blocked off. Surprised passers-by had to wait and freeze at the bars for around an hour and a half until Biden's column drove through.

When the temperatures were cool, it wasn't just the children in T-shirts and shorts who started to shiver while waiting. Nevertheless, those affected took it mostly stoically, sometimes with gallows humor. "A standerl would be right now, then we could at least drink half a glass," said a local with a wink in the deepest dialect. Others conceded: "It's annoying" - only to say with relief in the next breath: "But it'll be over soon."

Finally, the US President was driven from Schloss Elmau through Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Ohlstadt Airport. From there, the presidential helicopter "Marine One" took off and brought Biden to Munich Airport. A little later, the well-known plane "Airforce One" took off in the direction of Madrid, where the NATO summit was to officially start on Wednesday.

Previously, the roadblocks in Garmisch-Partenkirchen meant that families were temporarily separated: a grandson called sadly for his grandmother on the other side. A woman, on the other hand, bridged the waiting time with a gossip magazine that she had bought specially - she actually wanted to meet up with her sister and a friend who were across the street. A man who said he wanted to see a doctor was forbidden by police to cross the street.

However, in one case the officials made an exception: a young mother was allowed to rush over. She had just quickly bought some bread - and meanwhile left her small child alone in the apartment.

On the way there late on Saturday evening, US President Biden was not flown directly to the castle - in contrast to most of the other high-ranking guests. The reason, according to information from the German Press Agency: Due to bad weather, the US President's pilots were not able to practice landing near Schloss Elmau sufficiently often in the days before the summit.

A few hundred meters above the hotel, a large hiking car park was paved especially for the summit, so that several helicopters can land there for important guests. After the summit, the asphalt is to be removed and the hiking area restored.