The network of small houses is getting thinner - Techno and a colourful bag: the Ruhr area celebrates its drinking halls
The neighbor with a leg prosthesis and rollator stops by just before lunch: "A coffee with milk and a newspaper." Sven Lauer happily brings it to him - outside, due to the step in front of the kiosk and the leg. Then a regular customer turns the corner, proudly showing off her new dog: "This is Fritz, only twelve weeks old." A 25-year-old needs a lighter: "We've got one. It's a euro."
Sven Lauer's drink hall in the middle of the street maze of Essen-Rüttenscheid is a neighborhood meeting point like out of a TV series. "I know everyone here and everyone knows me," says the owner. Lauer's drink hall is one of 40 in the whole Ruhr area participating in the "Day of Drink Halls" this Saturday (17.8.) as a "program booth."
Music, grilling, face painting
That means there's money from the Ruhr Tourism GmbH (RTG) for a cultural program - concerts, theater, grilling, football talk, or face painting, whatever the guests prefer. 80 other booths are participating at their own expense, receiving flags and posters from the tourism company for the event.
The event runs every two years and is very popular: a party right in front of your own doorstep for free. The tourism experts expect around 25,000 visitors in total. They promote bicycle tours on various routes through the Ruhr area from booth to booth and visiting several drink halls.
Drink halls are the "village square of the city"
"Like no other institution, the drink hall stands for what the Ruhr area is made of: togetherness, diversity, and openness," says Ruhr Tourism CEO Axel Biermann. Often, the whole family helps out at the sales counter. "They also always have an open ear for worries, needs, and everyday stories." Above all, it's about this social function as the "village square of the city" on the Day of Drink Halls.
Indeed, the network of booths around the corner is getting thinner. There were an estimated 18,000 drink halls in the golden kiosk era of the 1960s in the Ruhr area, says an RTG spokesperson. Then, factory closures in industry and later significantly extended opening hours of supermarkets and larger tank station assortments reduced the number of kiosks. Today, there are only about 5,000 kiosks left in the Ruhr area.
The booth day as a sign of life
Here, the booth day is also meant to be a sign of life. The RTG is investing 700,000 euros for this. Sven Lauer wants to turn his drink hall into a "techno booth" for a day, as announced in a notice. He has engaged the DJs of a club known in the city and wants to offer techno for dancing in front of his drink hall. A piece of the street will even be closed off.
Beer from a refrigerated truck and currywurst from a caterer will be available at moderate prices. Lauer expects 800 to 1,200 visitors from 3:00 PM to the end of the booth day at 10:00 PM. Unfortunately, he can't assemble sweet treat bags individually due to the crowd - but he has prepared 300 pre-packaged colorful sweet treat bags - "there's plenty in there," he promises.
After a long day at the "Day of Drink Halls," Sven Lauer might use his free time to unwind by listening to some music at his "techno booth." Despite the expected crowd, he ensures there will be enough sweet treats for everyone in those colorful bags.
As the event draws to a close, some visitors might consider the drink halls as their favorite neighborhood hangouts, offering a sense of community and shared experiences, just like their free time activities.
