Munich: this was day 1 with the mask requirement – Munich

The morning after the new general decree comes into force, Munich looks a bit like post-war Germany: the city is divided into zones and care must be taken not to accidentally cross a border.

Suppose someone lives in Lehel and has agreed to meet up to four friends for breakfast with wheat beer at the beer garden on the Viktualienmarkt. When you get on your bike, there are still no restrictions. You don’t have to wear a mask on the way through the valley. But if you dismount on the road, for example to buy fresh tobacco from Pfeifen Huber, then you have to wear mouth and nose protection, because in the valley it is mandatory to wear a mask on the sidewalk. Then cross the Viktualienmarkt, an area where the mouth and nose must generally be kept covered. After having greeted their partner with an elbow check, they sit at the table assigned to them. The masks can now be removed, the general concept of hospitality hygiene allows.

So to stay in the picture, the beer garden on the Viktualienmarkt is something like Munich’s Berlin: an island of freedom in the middle of the SBZ, the area that covers the muzzle.

For Marcella Lerchenberger, a golden age could dawn now. Sell ​​masks at a stall at the entrance to the market. The assortment ranges from the usual colored rags to lace masks (requested by waiters, because they have to run all day and breathe well, Lerchenberger explains) to those with a skull smile or a joint at the corner of their mouth. Plastic shields also come in all forms. “But it’s better to go there,” says Lerchenberger, pointing to the one with white and blue diamonds.

The business should be flourishing. The booth is the last chance for the forgetful: it is better to pay eight euros for a mask than a fine of 250 euros if you are caught without one! But so far this has not yet been reflected in sales. Lerchenberger has the impression that fewer people come to the Viktualienmarkt now than before. And also guess why: “Walking with this thing outdoors is an imposition,” says the mask seller.

There is now a lot of regulation in public space and yet there are still unanswered questions: What applies to the Leberkäs Mile, for example? Can someone who has bought their bread in one of the many butchers and eat it on the spot? Or do you have to get out of the no-go zone first to eat the sausage meat that has now cooled down in a lonely place? But can consumers be worse off than smokers?

Hildegard Harlanger interpreted the rule to her advantage, standing behind the Schlemmermeyer and briefly removing her mask to bite into a bratwurst. In fact, you can live well with the mask requirement, says the Munich woman. “It’s not nice, but if I can do something with it, it’s good.” In fact, now she prefers to go downtown, she says, because there are not so many tourists anymore.

The couple there meet in front of the town hall at 12 noon and wait for the carillon to ring. Instead of a few hundred, perhaps there are 50 today who see Schäffler spinning to ring the bell, as a reminder of the end of another pandemic more than half a millennium ago.

If the mayor takes a look outside his office right now, he should be satisfied. I would see many neatly masked faces. Dieter Reiter will have been even more pleased with the latest figures reported to him on Thursday by the State Office of Public Health: the seven-day incidence value has again dropped below the 50 threshold. It is now at 45.12. And the number of new infections reported is again in double digits, it was 62. If the trend continues, Reiter does not have to extend its general provision after October 1.

Hosts in particular complain about the swing of the measures. She basically understands that the rules are necessary, according to which only five people from two different households can sit at a table, said Wiesnwirt’s second spokesman and Nockherberg head Christian Schottenhamel of the German press agency. But he would like more certainty in planning: “We have been talking about a second wave for months. It would be nice if the state government had informed us in advance what is planned for this case.” Schottenhamel had to cancel reservations for his ballroom, which would have room for around 450 guests under Corona’s conditions. There are tables for eight people. “If we had known in advance that it could happen that we could only seat five people at a table, we would have responded in advance and would only accept reservations for five people at the table.”

The municipal field service man who oversees the zone boundary at Odeonsplatz has a particularly tough job this Thursday: he can ride his bike down Leopoldstrasse without a mask, the pedestrian zone begins at Odeonsplatz. The gentleman in the white cap on duty salutes in all directions. Not only is the mask requirement new here, due to the arts and crafts market, cycling is no longer allowed on Residenzstrasse.

“Do you know how much that costs?”, He asks two unmasked cyclists, and he gives the answer himself: “15 euros for cycling in the pedestrian zone and 250 euros for not wearing a mask.” Although there are signs, the two of them pretend to be ignorant. “Mask? Away too? Really?” Asks one in disbelief. The exhortation remains. He hasn’t imposed a fine for the mask yet, says the shandy. “And I hope I never have to.”