Why Oberursel’s Hessentag deficit is larger than expected

The big wheel at Oberusel's station

Last year the Hessentag in Oberursel took up quite a bit of the town’s resources and also was covered quite extensively on this blog.

Today the day arrived when one of the key questions after the event was answered: “how much did it all cost?”, or to be more precise – how big was the loss that the town’s finances have been left with.

The original budget was for a loss of 3½ million Euro.  In the end, it turned out to be 4½ million.  An addition €836,000 were spent by the town’s own service department (BSO) and €503,000 on personnel costs.  However these are not included in the deficit as to a certain extent they would have been spent anyway on the normal day-to-day running of services in the town.

So what went wrong? [Read more…]

Half-way through the Hessentag

Last night marked the half-way point in the Hessentag in Oberursel.  Parties held on this evening are often referred to as the “Bergfest” , meaning that we have climbed up the mountain and it’s all downhill from here on.

The big wheel at Oberusel's station

The big wheel at Oberusel's station

It was announced this afternoon that there had been 735,000 visitors in the first five days, with 215,000 alone on Whit Monday – just 5,000 off the record for a single day ever!

The million is not far away…

430,000 visitors at the first Hessentag weekend

Oberursel is well on its way to reaching the target of 1 Million visitors during the 10-day Hessentag in the coming week.

The first three days of the event saw 430,000 visitors come to the town, according to a statement by the local Hesse Government.  15,000 of them went to the Roxette concert last night and another 50,000 were at Just White on Saturday night.

Almost a third of the visitors went to the Landesausstellung outside the town in an area called the Drei Hasen.  This is something of a County Show and is well worth visiting, although in my opinion it has been under-publicised.

The Adenauerallee in Oberursel on Whit Monday during the Hessentag

The Adenauerallee in Oberursel on Whit Monday

Many of the county ministries and departments have stands there in Hall 1, and in Hall 2 a lot of the local tourist attractions have information stands and leaflets to encourage visitors to go and see them in the summer.  Organisations such as the police, Red Cross and charities such as World Vision are also exhibiting there, with lots of things for children to do.

With Monday almost behind us, there are still six days left to visit the Hessentag.

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