After 11/11 in Cologne: New concept for Zülpicher Straße required

Both politicians and restaurateurs in the university district around Zülpicher Straße are pushing for a new concept for the street carnival. The attempt at the beginning of the session on Thursday to set up soundproofed celebration zones on the university meadow, they consider to have failed. “The stage that had been built in recent years had already proven to be a magnet and too big an attraction. The city should no longer pursue this approach, ”criticizes Andreas Hupke (Greens), district mayor of the city center.

Hupke speaks of a “youth demonstration” in view of the masses of young people who celebrated in the university district. And he warns: “The inner city on the left bank of the Rhine cannot handle such dimensions”. The restaurateurs are groaning under this development. “Since a stage was set up at the Unimensa for the first time in 2018, we have seen massive audience exchanges. A scene that wants to celebrate street carnival has displaced those who came for the pub carnival, ”complains Markus Vogt from IG Kwartier Latäng.

Nationwide criticism of the tight crowd in Corona times

The pictures of the dense crowd on Zülpicher Straße had been commented on and criticized nationwide in view of the high level of corona infection in social networks. The 2G controls at the entrances to the cordoned-off celebration zone also gave cause for criticism, the security staff is said to have been overwhelmed for the most part, especially in the evening hours, and to have dispensed with ID checks for proof of vaccination. Police officers who were on duty around Zülpicher Strasse for hours reported on Thursday that there were no controls at some entry points. “Especially between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., larger groups got into the area of ​​the celebration mile in an uncontrolled manner,” said one official.

City speaks of individual cases

On the other hand, the city speaks in an initial assessment of “functioning controls” and possibly “individual cases” in which people entered the area without being monitored. “According to an initial assessment, our concepts for 11.11. largely risen. We will analyze this coming Monday as part of a special meeting of the crisis team together with the police and other actors, ”said city director Andrea Blome. A general ban on celebrations for the eleventh in the eleventh would have been “disproportionate” according to Blome. The mayor sees it similarly: “If we also forbade those who have been vaccinated and those who have recovered from celebrating, this would have negative effects on the acceptance of the vaccination campaign. As a city, it is our job to set the framework, ”said Henriette Reker on Friday.

On the eleventh in the eleventh, it was once again confirmed that Zülpicher Strasse alone is the destination of the partying. “You could have roller-skated on Kyffhäuser Strasse,” observed Hupke, who lives in the district and who took a tour to get an idea of ​​the situation. The innkeepers also see this as a problem, the operators of the pubs on the edge of the party zone would hardly have recouped the personnel costs, reports Markus Vogt from the community of interests. The times when the eleventh in the eleventh was one of the busiest days of the year are over. He suggests closing an inner restricted zone around Zülpicher Straße earlier and guiding visitors into the side streets. And: No more programs are allowed to take place on the Uniwiese. Planning groups have already been set up in order to be able to present a new concept for Weiberfastnacht and the following street carnival.

The hosts also know that the holiday trend cannot be reversed from now on. “It will take a few years before the scene understands that,” Vogt suspects. Residents and restaurateurs have been observing the exodus of the pub audience for some time now, even on the weekends. Discussions about the development of the Zülpich district were caused by a fatal knife attack in the summer in which an 18-year-old was killed.

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