“The list of exceptions is long”: Swiss can buy despite border blockade – Fricktal – Aargau

Germany will go into lockdown from Wednesday. The 8pm to 5am curfew has been in effect in Baden-Württemberg since last Saturday. But unlike the first spring closure, the border between Germany and Switzerland remains open. It has been since June 15 and, according to the Federal Police of Weil am Rhein, it will continue to be so in the future. Spokesperson Katharina Kessler: “Nothing will change about the previous border regime.”

The state of Baden-Württemberg regulates the entry quarantine itself in its crown ordinance on who is Swiss and who cannot enter Germany under what conditions. The state ministry responsible for the crown confirms that nothing will change with the closure. The Swiss can still enter Germany without the obligation to self-quarantine. The restriction: you must come from the border cantons of Aargau, Solothurn, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Schaffhausen, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Zurich or from Appenzell and Jura and leave Germany again after 24 hours at the latest.

People entering from all other Swiss cantons would first have to go into quarantine for several days after crossing the border. Unless they can claim exceptions such as professional reasons or visits to close relatives. “The list of exceptions is long,” says Muriel Schwerdtner, director of the Bad Säckingen public order office. You cannot quantify how often the Swiss have already violated applicable entry regulations. But there would be “pretty sure” violations.

Only goods to cover daily needs

German customs do not control which cantons Swiss shopping tourists come from. You will also be busy stamping the organic export certificates in the future. The stamps required for VAT refund are issued at customs offices such as Stein-Bad Säckingen or Laufenburg even during closing. This is confirmed by the Singen and Lörrach customs offices responsible for the Upper Rhine region. The first reports that Swiss shopping tourism would end the new blockade at the latest were therefore premature.

Poll: here’s what the Swiss are saying about the blockade

Of course, as of Wednesday, the Swiss will only be able to buy in food and beverage markets, drugstores, opticians, pet stores, health food stores and other areas that are considered necessary to meet daily needs. Service offers in the area of ​​auto repair shops and dry cleaners remain open. The sale of Christmas trees is also allowed.

The Swiss have to leave Germany on time

In this regard, only the curfew provisions apply to Swiss shopping tourists, according to which no one can stay in public spaces in Baden-Württemberg between 8 pm and 5 am without a valid reason, and purchases they are not one of these reasons. So the stores, which were normally open after 8 pm, have closed since Saturday at 8 pm, some even at 7:30 pm

This includes the Schmidts markets in the region along the German-Swiss border and traditionally frequented by many Swiss customers, as well as the Rewe branches in Bad Säckingen and Rheinfelden, which are otherwise open until 10 pm ” By closing half an hour before the curfew begins, we want to give our Swiss customers enough time to leave the country on time, “says Rewe spokesman Thomas Bonrath.

And they still come, possibly panicking more than ever. “At the weekend we feel a race with us that will not be soon,” reports Werner Beck, owner of the Beck Arkaden shopping center in Bad Säckingen.

Beck-Arkaden Bad Säckingen: “Flash in the pan” on Monday

On Monday people would have queued in front of Apollo, Müller and Alnatura and that already at 8.30 am Beck: “But what good is the flash in the pan if I have to freeze for the next few weeks and months.” Beck doubts that the lockdown in Germany will only last until January 10. But he has respect for the Swiss crown policy.