Baden-Württemberg – Since the gas station murder in Idar-Oberstein, threats from mask refusers have increased. According to Dehoga, such behavior puts a lot of strain on the service staff.
Closures, debts and hostility: Since the beginning of the corona pandemic, service staff and owners of restaurants, bars or hotels have had to put up with a lot. They are not allowed to host or entertain guests for months, which leads to financial burdens. Recently, customers can be supplied again, but only after querying the G-status (vaccinated, recovered, tested), with reservations and under strict hygiene and corona measures. In the meantime, money is coming back into the house, but another problem burdens owners and employees very much – the emergence of verbal and physical violence!
| Name | DEHOGA Baden-Württemberg |
| Address | Augustenstrasse 6, 70178 Stuttgart |
| Manager | Melanie von Görtz |
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Baden-Württemberg: Dehoga complains of increasing violence – “We are becoming a buffer stop”
“We become the buffer stop of the social vaccination discussion in all its excesses,” explains Melanie von Görtz, managing director of Dehoga Baden-Württemberg, when asked by HEIDELBERG24. The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) has been looking after the interests of the hotel and catering industry in relation to politics, media and administration since 1994. Although there are no reliable numbers of incidents, individual cases of “more or less politely” complaints have been recorded. For a few weeks now, Melanie von Görtz has had the impression of an accumulation. This is “very stressful” for those affected.
“The majority of guests understand this, and some welcome the query because it gives them a better feeling of security. Unfortunately, our association is receiving more and more feedback about unpleasant discussions with guests who do not understand the query of their G status. This sometimes leads to very unpleasant discussions and even leads to personal hostility, ”says the managing director, describing the current situation in the entrance area of restaurants and hotels. In a particularly serious case, an angry – and previously rejected – customer even had to be “with difficulty” prevented from throwing a stone in the direction of the shop.
Baden-Württemberg: More and more “free riders” after the murder in Idar-Oberstein
But since September 18, there has been a new form of violence against service staff and operators in Germany that goes beyond insulting and almost thrown stones. A 20-year-old petrol station employee was murdered in Idar-Oberstein that day. The alleged perpetrator admits the act and states that he wanted to set a “sign” because he felt harassed by the Corona measures. The victim asked the man several times to put on his mask.
–Since then, several cases have become known in which mask refusers threatened with deadly violence if they were asked about their mask. On a train near Bad Kreuznach, a woman without mouth and nose protection even attacked a traveler with the words “You should also be shot” for no reason! Further incidents from Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate have also become known. The police now want to crack down on such “free riders”.
Baden-Württemberg: That is the advice of the Dehoga managing director
“If there are problems, you should make it clear that the companies and employees in the hospitality industry are the completely wrong addressee for fundamental criticism of the anti-corona measures. They come from the government, not from the companies or their employees – but they are legally obliged to implement them! Most of the guests – including many critically minded – accept this, ”said Melanie von Görtz when asked what she would advise the service staff and the owners for such a heated situation. (ie)
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