Advent without Lights – The Pre-Christmas Period in the Pandemic

Christmas markets in Europe have a centuries-old tradition. Your rejections are a challenge. Sales are lost, showmen lose their last lifeline, citizens long for normality. How do we master an Advent season in the pandemic? How much contemplation do the alternatives create, and where is mulled wine still allowed?

Marc Roschmann from Göppingen, Chairman of the Stuttgart Showman Association, comes from a showman dynasty and is the fourth generation to run the family business. The family man makes a third of the annual turnover with the Christmas business. But where the lights of his candy stand at the Christmas market normally shine is where the Corona test center is today. The 39-year-old can only comfort himself and his colleagues with the so-called isolated solution: That means isolated stands spread over the city center. An alternative that works in most major cities in Germany. Different in Switzerland. In Bülach near Zurich, not only are the candles burning, but also the plate under the mulled wine pot.

Behind it is Lars Gräf, who did not want to accept the cancellation of the Christmas market in the village and is now organizing the “Christmas Village” himself on a private initiative. The hygiene concept is in place – strolling, bratwurst and alcohol are still allowed here on the 2nd and 3rd weekend of Advent. Does it stand up to traffic and expectations? The official Bülach Christmas market has attracted up to 60,000 visitors over the past few years. Patrick Schultze, bus operator from Görlitz, has also put together an alternative for the failure of the Christmas business. Half of his fleet is idle because there are no more Christmas market tourists he can drive to Poland, Dresden and Königstein. During the Advent season, the 36-year-old drives a self-made mulled wine taxi.