In December, 3.2 million visitors were counted in Kaufingerstrasse – more than in any other pedestrian zone in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
In a comparison of the most popular shopping streets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Munich took first place in December 2022. This was the result of a study by the Cologne-based company Hystreet, which regularly calculates the number of pedestrians. Right at the front is Kaufingerstraße, the only measuring point on which recorded more than three million pedestrians in Advent, namely 3.2 million. It is followed by Neuhauser Strasse with 2.9 million visitors in the eastern section and 2.7 million in the western section in the direction of Stachus.
In fourth place is Kärntner Strasse in Vienna, followed by Schildergasse in Cologne and Zeil in Frankfurt. The data from Hystreet show significantly more visitors for Neuhauser Straße not only in December, but for the whole of 2022. At a good 25 million, the total number of passers-by is 51 percent higher than in the previous year. However, it is still around 20 percent lower than in 2019, the most recent comparative year without the corona pandemic and the associated restrictions.
Wolfgang Fischer, Managing Director of City-Partner, an association of inner-city dealers, attributes the “noticeable revival in downtown Munich” primarily to the lifting of the strict corona restrictions that still characterized the first half of 2021. The return of tourists to Munich also brought a plus. Events like the European Championships and the Christmas markets in December would have attracted many travellers. The three big concerts by Helene Fischer, Andreas Gabalier and Robbie Williams at the exhibition center in Riem were also crowd pullers.
The numbers show that the city center should not be written off so quickly, even if the pandemic and online shopping have changed shopping behavior. Concerns that Munich’s pedestrian zone will be permanently vacant also seem to be unfounded – on the contrary: Whoever walks through the city center will discover many new shops.