The portal has been activated: the lights at the entrance of Striezelmarkt have not been lit this year.
Picture: AFP
The incidence rate in Dresden is 530. However, one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world should be held there—with or without corona. According to the organizers, a workable concept has been developed.
TonDespite the dramatic corona situation in Saxony, Dresden insists on opening the traditional Striezelmarkt next Monday. Robert Frank, head of the Dresden Economic Development Office, said on Thursday: “We take this epidemic very seriously and have put a lot of effort into designing and establishing a market that, despite mandatory restrictions, is still for tourists and retail. The supplier provides a typical Striezelmarkt style.”.
Striezelmarkt is one of the oldest Christmas markets in the world-it was cancelled last year due to the corona incident. This year’s Striezelmarkt concept, among other things, also provides a spatial equilibrium of the market. In addition, the number of booths has been reduced by 20%, Frank said. There will be no indoor discounts, such as Christmas Bakery or Wichtelkino.
Will it always be like this?
Now, the decisive factor is the regulation of the country’s next general decree on the Christmas market. On Friday, the state government hopes to pass a new corona protection regulation that will apply from Monday to December 20. According to this, the Christmas market can be held, but the 2-G rule must be introduced in the so-called stay area-where people eat and drink. The Federal Government’s Future Traffic Light Alliance also explicitly mentioned the possibility of banning the Christmas market in the new national corona rules decided on Thursday.
However, it is not clear whether these rules will be improved. Prime Minister Michael Krechmer (CDU) talked about two to three weeks of “sturdy and clear breakwaters” in a government statement to the state legislature. According to data from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the 7-day morbidity rate (the number of new infections per 100,000 residents in 7 days) in Dresden on Thursday was 530.4. Compared with the previous day, there were 636 new cases of new crown infection.
