Dusseldorf Herbert Geiss is angry: “If we lock the door today and cancel the events – will it stop? No, so why should we do it then?” The 39-year-old is the owner of the costume dealer Deiters and makes his living from the carnival business. After two sessions that were almost canceled due to the corona pandemic, the situation is already tense. With the outbreak of the Ukraine war, further carnival events have now been cancelled.
In the Rhineland, the party mood has evaporated: after the Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the radio stations stopped playing carnival music. The Cologne Shrove Monday procession was only moved to the Cologne stadium due to the corona in order to be able to check distances and carry out vaccination checks. Now it has been canceled altogether.
“I don’t know what will change if Radio Köln doesn’t play carnival songs,” complains Deiters boss Geiss. The entrepreneur does not understand why the question is now being raised as to whether it is morally right to celebrate carnival. Everyone has to make this decision for themselves.
But it’s not just about morals, it’s also about a lot of money. Already in the second year of the pandemic, 2021, the loss of sales in the carnival industry amounted to around 1.5 billion euros. The catering and hotel industry was particularly hard hit: around 40 percent of sales were lost there. Hardly any industry has been hit harder. Retail followed closely behind with a share of around 20 percent.
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Due to the corona pandemic, a number of carnival events and parades have been canceled in the past two years. The Omikron wave had already dampened hopes of a quick recovery at the beginning of the year, with the Ukraine war the carnival in 2022 is likely to be largely canceled.
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Because one question overshadows this year’s session: Is it permissible to celebrate carnival while bombs are falling in Ukraine?
The President of the German Carnival Association, Klaus-Ludwig Fess, has a clear opinion: “Carnivalists should snatch people’s worries away and show them something good.” But Fess clearly distinguishes between organized carnival and street carnival: “We have now we have the opportunity to show ourselves as carnivalists and to reflect on why we celebrate carnival at all.” Despots like Putin shouldn’t be allowed to dictate people’s lives. In the crisis you have to spread cheerfulness.
However, a difficult year is to be expected for the already ailing industry: The German Economic Institute (IW) had already announced on Tuesday that the losses this season will total up to 1.62 billion euros – due to the corona pandemic alone. Because the consequences that a war could have on the party mood and the turnover of the carnival participants could not be calculated at that time.
40,000 employees depend on the carnival all year round
The list of companies that make a living from carnival is long: in addition to gastronomy and retail, the beverage industry, costume rentals, the clothing industry, ticket sales and the transport sector also benefit from the fifth season every year. Around 3,000 companies with 40,000 employees make a living from the traditional festival all year round.
In normal times, the carnival industry generates just over two billion euros, according to the IW. According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group, the city of Cologne alone accounts for around 600 million euros.
The corona crisis alone threatens many companies with bankruptcy. “The wave of insolvencies will come,” says Deiters boss Geiss, and that will affect both large and small companies. The costume retailer is proud that it has survived the last two years despite a 90 to 95 percent loss in sales. It was different for many competitors.
Even in the pandemic, the entrepreneur is calling for more responsibility on the part of the individual. “We have to start living with the virus now,” says Geiss. The pandemic is not over, but “the pandemic situation” is. “The numbers from 11.11. have shown that the number of infections has not increased more than the nationwide district average.
Many German cities have set up customs zones for this year’s carnival days between Weiberfastnacht and Veilchentuesday, in which the hygiene rules have been relaxed. There was a celebration on Thursday despite the situation in Ukraine.
Geiss is in a positive mood for the coming session, business has “taken up a lot” in the past two to three weeks. Christian Rusche from the IW is also convinced that people are not tired of carnival and want to celebrate again in the years to come. The economist predicts: “Carnivals in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz are institutions. Even after two years of Corona, people will want to celebrate carnival again.”
Politics has a duty
Politicians now have enough time to prepare for the next session. “So that we don’t have the great surprise again in autumn about new virus variants, which then also damage us economically again,” says Deiters boss Geiss. He sees the politicians as having a duty: “I think that the state and federal governments must now make decisions that may be a bit uncomfortable at first.” Another two years with high sales losses would no longer be able to be put up with even for his company.
Geiss had already planned the opening of five to ten more branches for 2021. He wants to do that again this year. “We are assuming that we will be back in normal waters for the next session.” However, the Cologne entrepreneur does not yet want to formulate concrete expansion plans, as he lacks the planning security from the political side.
And of course also the certainty that no new major political events will overshadow his business with cheerfulness. After all, he received support from prominent carnivalists on Weiberfastnacht. “We don’t sway past people’s concerns,” said Björn Braun, as Virgo Gerdemie in the Cologne triumvirate. “But neither do we let the limits of happiness be determined by people who trample on freedom and peace.”
Assistance: Isabelle Wermke
More: Live blog on the Ukraine war – All developments