A cyclist leaves Strasbourg and arrives at the Pont de l'Europe. At the end, the border town of Kehl ... where a police check awaits him. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

  • No more expensive shopping on the other side of the German border! Since mid-March, and until June 15, the passage across the Rhine is very limited.
  • The traders in the border town of Kehl, where Strasbourg residents come to buy cigarettes, diapers, cosmetics, fuel, etc., suffer.
  • "Our clientele is 95% French then there ... All the stores need to see the border reopen", says the tenant of a service station

Barriers, police and cars idling. Since mid-March, the German border has taken up again at the end of the Europe bridge. Between Strasbourg and Kehl, the tram no longer even works. Crossings are now limited to very specific reasons ... No more small, less expensive races!

In Alsace, the good plan is known: fuel, cosmetics, hygiene products and food deserve to be bought across the Rhine. Not to mention cigarettes. "A package is 6 or 7 euros, against 10 at home," says Fabrice, one of the few French people crossed this Monday in Kehl.

"I don't think we will be arrested for so little"

With his friend Mohammad, they avoided the controls on the outward journey but feared the return. "We were out of tobacco so we tried our luck. Now let's see. I have already paid a fine once, I don't think we'll be arrested for so little, ”explains the driver, surprised by the desert atmosphere of the border town.

Usually so hectic, the Strassburger Strasse is very quiet this Monday. Little traffic, car parks half empty, shops are idling. The Dm-drogerie markt, often taken by assault, is the perfect illustration. Inside, several boxes are closed and the aisles are empty.

The parking lot of the half-empty Dm-drogerie markt: a rare scene in Kehl before the global pandemic. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

The opinion of the sellers on the situation? "We are not allowed to answer, call the company's headquarters," replied one of them, before smiling at the looming "quiet" afternoon. Opposite, the manager of a petrol station is more talkative. "We have very few customers," sighs Thomas, looking at his fifteen unoccupied pumps. “Our clientele is 95% French then there… All the stores need to see the border reopen. "

An opinion shared by this employee of "Monte-Carlo", one of the many "Spielcasino" of the German city. Kehl is also a little El Dorado for the French who want to play games of chance. "Usually, the thirty [slot] machines are taken at this hour ... There, it's not going at all, plague Christina. I already have four five colleagues who have seen their contracts terminate. I am not too afraid but the owner must be worried. Without French, there's nothing left here! "

The main street of Kehl, with its terraces authorized to reopen since this Monday, May 18. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

"The French represent 40% of our clientele so necessarily, they are missing"

In the streets towards the city center, the repercussions are less obvious. "The business was even very good at the start of confinement and there, it's still going well," admits Kevin, from the store "La vie en Bio". Reopened since Monday, the cafes and pastry terraces welcome their first consumers. Again, almost exclusively Germans.

"We had to increase the number of tables from 30 to 20, so that they are more spaced," says Jürgen behind his counter. "I would say that the French represent 40% of our clientele, so necessarily, they are lacking," he continues, without wanting to comment on the restoration of the border.

On one side and the other of the Pont de l'Europe in Kehl, the German police check passers-by and cyclists. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

Nathalie goes through it every day to come and work in a hairdressing salon in the Kehl shopping center. Since the reopening of her business on April 20, she has seen controls gradually ease. “But at the start, even myself as a border worker, I was not allowed to shop here. French people have even been denounced because we saw their license plates on the parking lots! She remembers, disgusted.

"Since May 11, we have been authorized to do so again and I have become a little bit of a cigarette transporter for my friends! I bring one cartridge a day, no more, ”adds the forties, in desperate expectation of a customer this Monday afternoon. "There are days, we are at -50% of turnover ... It is fast that the French can return. Kehl is a small town and needs Strasbourg. "

For those who head for Strasbourg, the French border police also carry out checks. An international travel certificate is required. - T. Gagnepain / 20 Minutes

Still a little patience. The complete lifting of the barriers is scheduled for June 15.

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  • Strasbourg
  • Borders
  • Trade
  • Germany