In Berlin, an innkeeper started the traditional Oktoberfest, with admission only for vaccinated people. Criticism then rained down - but at the start there was little of it on site.
"A toast to cosiness", the band "Edelweiß Express" played again and again. Being together comfortably, swaying and dancing - hardly imaginable with a mask and keeping your distance. But precautions have been taken in the Fischerhütte am Schlachtensee: the Oktoberfest started here on Friday.
Admission is only for vaccinated people, strictly according to 1G. When innkeeper Josef Laggner announced this a few weeks ago, he received a shitstorm of hate messages: "Fortunately, there are other restaurateurs who don't go so radically to the left," criticized someone on Facebook. "Hope you guys go broke!" wrote one.
Josef Laggner (archive photo): The innkeeper has received a lot of criticism. (Source: Olaf Wagner/imago images)
Before the start of the festival, the homepage of the fisherman's hut was apparently hacked. On Friday, instead of going to the restaurant, a Google link led to a web shop selling T-shirts with anti-vaccination slogans like "Vaccinate? No thanks!" to be expelled. Elsewhere, the false report appeared on the internet that the Oktoberfest was cancelled.
But at 7 p.m. on Friday it started as planned. Landlord Laggner was expecting 250 people, and there are already many pre-orders for next weekend.
Laggner satisfied: "We wanted to set an example now"
"It annoys me that we are not making any progress with vaccinations," explained the native Austrian, who runs several restaurants in the capital. "The vaccination rate has increased by one point after the decimal point in the last week. How long will it take us to get our 70 or 80 percent? We'll still be there in August next year!"
They have been celebrating the Oktoberfest for 18 years. It had to be canceled last year. After the long months of the pandemic, this is now a special one. "We wanted to set an example now!"
Of course he could also understand the opponents of vaccination. Too many mistakes were made in the measures that the government decided on, as Laggner explains. Too much back and forth. "It is also everyone's right not to be vaccinated." But there are still those who are undecided. "They still have to be persuaded to go for vaccinations."
"Everyone who has been vaccinated deserves to be able to celebrate again"
He knew beforehand that there were people who rejected the 1G rule. But he asked himself the question: "Am I harming my company by doing this?" In his opinion not. His employees took a closer look at the abusive comments online. There people from Aachen, Augsburg or Hamburg wrote: "We will never visit the fisherman's hut again!" The innkeeper is interested in: "Who of them has ever been here?"
In any case, he cannot complain about a lack of interest this Friday. The store is booming. Only the waiters wear masks. "Everyone who has been vaccinated deserves to be able to celebrate again," says one of the visitors. "I think it's good that Laggner does 1G. That's how he gets people to get vaccinated."
Guests in the hut: "No one is being forced"
Three friends from Brandenburg are at the Oktoberfest for the fifth or sixth time. "We were happy like little gods that it's happening again," says Heike. "But I could also live with 2G, even with 3G." Her friend Beate understands the admission policy. "Laggner is an entrepreneur who decides that for himself. And then that's the way it is. Nobody is forced to come here."
Vera says she misses the community of solidarity a bit. "We don't have a problem with people who don't want to be vaccinated. We have them in our circle of friends too. But then we can't go here together." It wouldn't bother her at all if the unvaccinated were to celebrate, says Heike, "but we wouldn't have come here if masks were compulsory and dancing was banned."
Other visitors also regret that their unvaccinated friends cannot come and celebrate. Natalie from Berlin says: "I would also dance and sway with people if they were tested. You often have close contact with people, for example on the train. You don't know anything about them."
Claudia from Brandenburg says: "I'm glad that I can have a bit of freedom again - without a barrier in my head. I don't want to think about it: Can I press it now or not?" Patrick from Brandenburg also enjoys the evening. "It feels like before Corona. You can do everything without a mask."
Musicians from Bavaria: To celebrate in the capital
Anna is a singer from Berlin and has been performing with the gentlemen from Edelweiß Express at the Oktoberfest in the Fischerhütte for some time. "I'm happy that people are celebrating. If it comes through 1G, that's okay with me. I think it would also work with 3G. Only then maybe with more distance."
Anna and Roland: The two of them perform regularly with their band at the Fischerhütte. (Source: Kriss Rudolphs)
Roland plays keyboards in the band. He comes from Bavaria, where the big traditional Oktoberfest was canceled again this year due to Corona. He's pleased that 1G works in Berlin and that the guests celebrate carefree.
"With 2G or 3G, people might be unsure or they wouldn't come at all," believes the Franconian. He's coming here now for three weekends and playing pop music and party hits with the other artists. In between, he keeps going home to recover from partying in the capital.
There won't be any excitement about 1G if enough people get vaccinated, says Landlord Laggner. "Nobody can tell me they don't have the opportunity or that there is no vaccine. It's all nonsense!"
