We were the first of all the Länder where the rule of having to wear a mask on public transport was lifted. The jovial German voice and stern English voice frequently thanking us for wearing a mask and “taking responsibility” stopped in mid-December. The first few days after the rule was lifted, you noticed little difference. Masks were still ubiquitous. Now, finally, they have become the exception.
At the Tollwood winter market a stall sells beautiful wooden boards with colourful intricate inlays. I run my finger over a magnificent breakfast board. Who would have thought that wood can feel so smooth? It costs 220 Euros.
Some bakeries in Munich are taking part in the “bread on a hook” initiative (Brot am Haken). You pay for a second bread or some other item and the receipt is put on a hook. If someone in need comes in later, they get that item for free. Apparently, the initiative is our local version of a Neapolitan tradition (caffé sospeso). One such bakery is the Café Maurer close to the main station.
All of the indoor public swimming pools in the city have lowered their water temperature. My favourite pool – an open air one that used to be open all winter – has closed altogether. I was always aware that it was a luxury, but I used to go there every week and miss it more than I can say.
One million Ukrainians have fled to Germany so far. Another major influx is expected, because of the cold winter. Gyms around Munich are once again turned into emergency shelters. Erding, a small town of 34 000 people in the north of Munich, is currently receiving 30 Ukrainians a week. Erding has made headlines, because they’re trying everything possible to avoid sheltering people in gyms again and have made a public appeal to locals to take people in.
In our neighbourhood there were far less Christmas decorations up this year than in previous ones. I thought the main reason was the soaring energy prices, but maybe I was wrong and it has more to do with people leaving the Churches in droves. This year alone, 26 000 people in Munich have decided to officially leave the Church.
If I haven’t done so yet, that’s because the older I get the more unsure I am of certain things. I’m neither a believer nor an atheist, but a German Christmas is important to me: the music, the snow, the tree with straw stars and real candles. I never felt much at home in the Protestant Church, yet I don’t want to leave it. The reason is, as Brecht put it so succinctly, that I need a God. I need Him to see life not as a scientific experiment but as something intrinsically valuable and worthwhile. I want to trust in Christian values, even if the humans in my life who represent them – one of life’s ironies – are often atheists or of a different faith.
I raise my glass of mulled wine and belatedly wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy New Year.