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Hardly any other place is so closely connected to the pandemic as Ischgl.
Last spring, the virus spread across Europe from the après-ski bars in the Austrian community - probably also because those responsible wanted to take the last days of the season with them.
A year later, Ischgl is still closed: “We will start the winter season as soon as the regulatory and legal framework allows it,” says the ski resort's website.
An appointment will be announced in mid-February.
Many other winter sports areas in Austria are also closed or at least only partially open for skiing.
Foreign tourists are almost completely absent from the slopes, only locals and day visitors can ski.
The hotels and huts are closed - at least until the end of February.
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So it's no wonder that the economy of the Alpine republic is getting through the pandemic winter particularly badly.
Even if the virus does not spare any country in the European Union, economies are hit very differently by the crisis.
In the last quarter of last year Austria was the bottom of Europe.
From October to December, the economy in Germany's neighboring country shrank by 4.3 percent compared to the three months before, said the European statistics agency Eurostat.
If you take the same period of the previous year as a benchmark, the minus is even 7.8 percent.
In a year-on-year comparison, only the Spanish economy had to cope with an even stronger slump with minus 9.1 percent.
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In contrast, Germany even managed a small plus of 0.1 percent in the last quarter of the pandemic year compared to the three months before.
In a year-on-year comparison, the decrease was 3.9 percent.
Source: WORLD infographic
But even this value is just a black eye in a European comparison.
Overall, the economy in the euro area shrank by 5.1 percent from October to December. If you look at the whole of the EU, the minus was 4.8 percent.
Thus, the economic slump in the entire past year totaled minus 6.8 percent in the euro area and minus 6.4 percent in the EU.
The hope of a V-curve in the economy, which many economists had cherished in the summer, has now given way to disillusionment.
It is true that the economy in Europe picked up speed so quickly in the third quarter of 2020 that after the dramatic slump between April and June something like a “V” could actually be seen in the curve.
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However, the right leg was already shorter, so the upswing in summer could not fully make up for the losses.
Now it is finally clear that the second wave, which swept across Europe and drove many countries back into lockdown, can at best turn the hoped-for economic V into a W.
Source: WORLD infographic
The case of Austria shows that when it comes to the question of how deeply the second wave goes down, the structure of the respective economy is the most important factor.
The Alpine republic lives more than many others from tourism - both in summer and in winter.
But that has virtually come to a standstill.
The fact that Germany is in a better position is also due to the industry, which can largely continue to produce during the second lockdown.
The income from retailers in the important Christmas business was lower than in other years, and restaurants and hotels, which had already closed since November, could not contribute to economic performance.
Nevertheless, the minus was correspondingly smaller in a European comparison.
Benefits for the Baltic States
The Baltic states of Lithuania and Latvia have come through the crisis particularly well so far.
They even recorded strong growth with 1.2 and 1.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter compared to the three months before.
In a year-on-year comparison the minus was just 1.3 percent for Lithuania and 1.7 percent for Latvia, well below the European average and lower than in any other European country.
The fact that the countries in the EU have developed so differently in the past few months certainly also has to do with how hard and how early they were hit by the second wave.
Austria, for example, went into a tougher lockdown earlier than Germany.
Now the Alpine republic is also thinking about easing earlier: shops in the neighboring country should be allowed to reopen as early as February 8th.
In return, other rules are to be tightened.
In Germany, however, the current lockdown will apply until at least February 14th.
Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU) had not ruled out an extension even if the incidence value should have fallen below 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants.
The federal government is particularly concerned about the spread of mutated variants of the coronavirus.
The economies in the various European countries could continue to develop very differently in the coming months - depending on how quickly the second wave can be brought under control and how strong the easing will be.
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In view of these uncertainties, the analysts' forecasts also remain extremely cautious.
"In the first quarter, the gross domestic product in the euro area is likely to fall even more," predict the experts at Commerzbank.
"Because unlike in the final quarter of 2020, in which noticeable restrictions applied in December in particular, the economy is likely to be noticeably affected by measures to combat the pandemic in the entire first quarter."
One does not expect improvement until later spring - with rising temperatures.
However, this will not help the ski resorts in Austria.
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"Everything on shares" is the daily stock market shot from the WELT business editorial team. Every morning from 7 a.m. with the financial journalists Moritz Seyffarth and Holger Zschäpitz. For stock market experts and newcomers. Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Amazon Music and Deezer. Or directly via RSS feed.