Winter joy wasn’t announced everywhere at the weekend. Mass amounts of snow and ice caused traffic chaos and power outages, especially in southern Germany. A look back in pictures.
The heavy snowfall on the first weekend of Advent leaves its mark – not just as an idyllic winter wonderland. Train travelers in Bavaria in particular still have to prepare for significant restrictions. Two long-distance routes at Munich Central Station were served again on Sunday, but with fewer trains, a DB spokeswoman said.
Passengers are asked to check the status of their connection before traveling and to postpone non-essential travel to Tuesday or later.
Many schools in the districts of Starnberg and Mühldorf am Inn as well as in the city of Augsburg will remain closed on Monday. Distance learning is sometimes offered. In Augsburg, 20 schools should temporarily be completely or partially closed, as the city administration announced. The reason is the masses of snow that weigh on the roofs of the buildings. After the snow has melted, the buildings would have to be checked for their statics.
Winter in southern Germany: railway chaos and power outages
At Munich airport, after a closure on Saturday, flight operations partially started again on Sunday morning. However, hundreds of flights were still canceled. In addition, several thousand households, especially in Upper and Lower Bavaria, were still without power on Sunday after trees fell on lines on Saturday.
After the train cancellations due to the snow chaos in Bavaria, the railway workers’ union EVG and the Pro Bahn passenger association are demanding consequences for the winter suitability of the railway. EVG chairman Martin Burkert told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that the German rail infrastructure was “largely dilapidated”. There must be major investments based on the example of countries like Austria.
The federal chairman of the Pro Bahn passenger association, Detlev Neuß, told the newspaper that rail traffic was “only on edge after decades of austerity policy.” One of the many problems is that, for cost reasons, the railway has recently dismantled more and more tracks as parking spaces and now entire trains have to be parked directly in the stations if they can no longer get to their destination. “The congested stations mean that rail traffic is blocked even more quickly and comes to a standstill over a large area.”
Note: This photo series has been updated several times.