Cristina Buonocore from Naples, David Ting from Las Vegas, Julian Barajatas from Colombia. Munich greets its guests this weekend with what is probably the bluest sky the city has to offer. The sun tickles your cheeks, it’s almost spring-like warm when the tourists stop around Aileen Mondrinos in the Alter Hof. The city guide explains in English that Adolf Hitler washed his brushes in the fountain here. She holds up a copy of the watercolor.
To the layman, what the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), who was responsible for a world war and the murder of six million Jews, painted more than a hundred years ago, looks quite acceptable. But it wasn’t enough for the art academy, explains Mondrinos. Hitler was not an “all-rounder”. The picture shows the same wall of houses in front of which the tourists from Radius Tours are just following the explanations of the city guide. Except that back then there were no advertising banners for corona tests in the Alter Hof.
“Third Reich Tour – Munich’s Cruel History” is one of the most popular tours by Radius Tours, a provider specializing in English-speaking city tours. 18 tourists meet in front of the organizer’s office at the main train station, they have traveled from the USA and Belgium, a family from Ireland has added a day trip to Munich to their skiing holiday in Garmisch-Patenkirchen. And that’s a remarkable number of participants, considering how rampant Omikron is right now on the Isar.
You will have to live with Corona for a long time, says the Italian, so it is better to get used to it right away
“Does everyone have the right mask?” asks Mondrinos before the group gets on the S-Bahn for one stop. Cristina Buonocore wears hers neatly over her nose. Did she hesitate to travel to a city where the incidence was over 2000 until a few days ago? “Not at all,” not at all, emphasizes the Italian when the group re-enters the Marienplatz. She just wanted to travel after those tough winter weeks. The Neapolitan has lived in London for many years. She visits Munich with her partner. She is not afraid of the virus. She was vaccinated and also believed that people had to live with Corona for several more years. So better get used to it now.
As can be seen from the city’s economic department, the occupancy of hotel rooms in Munich fell to around 25 percent in December 2021 as the number of infections increased. In October, on the other hand, a good half of the rooms were still occupied. “It’ll be fine,” says Daniel Holder on the phone. Radius Tours’ Deputy General Manager sounds confident. And he also needs confidence, after all, traveling is the family’s business.
Holder’s father, an Englishman, founded Radius Tours in 1988 as a bicycle rental company in Munich, and later the city tours were added. Compared to 2019, which was “a strong year”, bookings in the Corona years fell by around 90 percent on average, because it even had to close completely for many months. City tours are now taking place again and the family business is trying to adapt as well as possible to fluctuating numbers of participants and constantly changing corona rules. Incidentally, all of this is not easy to understand for tourists either, says Holder: What is 3G? Where does 2G plus apply? And why is the second vaccination with Johnson & Johnson not accepted as a booster?
There have hardly been any Asian tourists in Munich since the beginning of the pandemic
At the moment, many Americans are booking Holder’s city tours because they are interested in historical topics. Australians, on the other hand, are missing, and there are also no tourists from Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. “Since Corona, 99 percent of our Asian customers have left us,” says Holder.
The group around Mondrinos can only guess what challenges a tour operator faces when the incidences skyrocket on this beautiful day. Tourists want to drift through this historic city. Want to hear what the experienced city guide reports about the beginnings of National Socialism in Munich. Crane their heads curiously when Mondrinos explains that the walk through Viscardigasse was once popular with everyone who wanted to avoid the Hitler salute at the Feldherrnhalle. Unfortunately, it is not possible to go through it yourself – a Spanish-speaking city tour blocks the way. That would be too many people in one place.
David Ting says he doesn’t have the feeling that the number of infections in Munich is particularly high. Yes, it even feels safe, says the Las Vegas dentist, especially since you can get tested anywhere. Ting was in Munich for further training, now he’s going on vacation for a few days. As an American, he does not need a visa, he is vaccinated, which makes entry easy. Julian Barajatas had more problems there. The Colombian is completing a master’s program in Eichstätt. He says he had to wait months for his student visa. He is in Munich for the third time, he likes the city. And Covid-19? He already had, he was also vaccinated. So not much can happen.
Perhaps this is how it is with travel and the virus: if you decide to travel, you will inevitably pack away your doubts with your suitcase. In any case, Cristina Bounocore says that she repeatedly went on trips during the pandemic, to Spain, Italy or Poland. And, as she says: “We are looking forward to the next.”