The Munich Viktualienmarkt is probably the most famous of its kind. Those who work here have an ear to the world. Corona was all the more privy for the market people, but not the same for everyone. Hans Hollweck, 69, was allowed to continue even in lockdown because he sells groceries. “All homemade goods, okay? Fruit spreads, chutneys, syrups, mustards. No preservatives, no coloring. No glump. Okay? ”Manuela Wilkerson, 56, a celebrity in the market because TV chef Jamie Oliver sold whites and reds from her sausage stand, was also allowed to sell her goods. Still didn't do it at times. Was simply too sensitive for her with a view to the health of customers and the difficult-to-follow distance rules. The hardest hit were people like Elke Fett.She sells "scented delicacies" and the beautiful things in life in general. She had to shut up. And when she was allowed to open again, it was barely ten percent of the other - albeit very impressive - turnover.

Timo Frasch

Political correspondent in Munich.

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    As for the start of the pandemic, the three are not complaining.

    The politicians were also faced with a completely new situation, says Wilkerson.

    But then!

    Fett reports that she heard Health Minister Jens Spahn said at the beginning of September that with today's knowledge, the retail trade would no longer be closed.

    Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that.

    “I bought Christmas goods for thousands of euros: I was allowed to throw them in the trash.” The city deferred the booth rent for the market people.

    Hollweck, once a top chef and globetrotter, noticed that this was of no use in the long term.

    He wanted to repay his debt, but in installments.

    Not possible, said the administration.

    What they miss in the pandemic is what they actually missed before: that the people who decide about them not only come to the market for beautiful photos, but also talk to them so that they know what they are deciding about. “At the very beginning, when I was here,” says Hollweck, “30 years ago, I had someone from the district administration department who was a master confectioner. He knew what was going on. OK? And today you get people who come from school. They have theoretical know-how, but they don't know how to implement it. ”His stand has been checked for 30 years. You have never complained about your goods - only the labels. Sometimes something was written too small, sometimes too big. Fett, who is the chairman of the Viktualienmarkt (IGV) interest group and thus represents many market people,says: “That is what globalization brought us. But now we're going to be regional again. Now we can write on it again: self-made jam. Important, very important - for our environment, for everything. Hans makes the best jam, he cooks it up, ready, done it. I can tell whether the apricot is old or fresh. ”You don't need a jam regulation as thick as a finger.

    Question to Fett and Hollweck, Wilkerson is already back at the booth: Now the federal elections are coming and Armin Laschet (CDU) promises to cut the bureaucracy. Doesn't that give hope? You wave it off. Nothing will change. “They're too cowardly,” says Hollweck. “Because they think, oh, then we will lose so and so many voters.” Fett: “It will be the same with climate protection. Nothing will happen - always only when there is a fire. ”Climate protection is important to them, most recently more than 40 degrees were measured on the market. What else? Gender? "I don't have time for such a junk," says Fett. Hollweck: “I'll just say one word - citizens' insurance.” And then a second: Tokyo. “I was in Tokyo, okay? There isn't a single trash can in Tokyo. Because everyone is obliged to take their filth home with them.Apparently that is not possible here in Munich - why not? Pigsty. "

    Which party will you vote for? The Greens do not get off well, although Fett was a great Green himself, who demonstrated with Jutta Ditfurth. The CSU under Markus Söder? “He's through here,” says Fett. "It is only well respected by everyone who comes from Cologne or Hamburg." The Free Voters think they are quite good, while Fett thinks even more of the FDP. Basically, however, they mainly trust themselves. Apart from the mustard stand, nobody had to give up because of the pandemic, says Fett. She was proud of that. She is 77, an absolute thoroughbred market woman. She definitely wants to do a few more years, because her dream should not end like this. "The market survived two world wars, it will survive Corona too."