Page 3 - GC-Sept-Oct-23

Will the real Faust please stand up? How the COVID pandemic changed

the German travel industry
by Martin Ederer gern (400s) and (yikes) his own
othing seems to pique the
daughter. Christopher Marlowe also The COVID-19 pandemic may She adds that "in particular, digitali-
popular imagination like attempted to tell the story in 1604. be over, but it's left a mark on travel zation and the use of video-confer-
Nstories of the devil, even
There is a Polish legend about a habits and the hospitality industry. encing has meant that there is
among otherwise secular people. similar figure: Pan Twardowski. by Jonas Martiny significantly less business travel
Perhaps it speaks eloquently about
German and Dutch miracle plays W.com: It's taken a while, but now than before the COVID-19
the existence of Original Sin and the also tell similar stories. Most nota- Dthe COVID-19 pandemic pandemic."
all-too-human (to paraphrase Nietz-
ble is Cenodoxus, by Jakob Bider- could not diminish Germans' love of According to BTW, the pan-
sche) propensity to do what’s mann. travel forever. On the contrary, va- demic kicked off a rapid digitaliza-
wrong.
The history gets complicated cations are still a top priority for tion drive in the travel and
Thanks in large part to Johann further by the fact that there seems many, according to a recent survey hospitality industry. Today, there
Wolfgang von Goethe’s very long
to have existed a real figure, Dr. by Germany's Holiday and Travel are many more opportunities to
play about Faust, this figure has Johann Georg Faust, who was in- Research Association. seek out an online customer service,
made its way into the popular imag-
deed a scholar (degree from Heidel- This is confirmed by Professor book restaurant tables or tickets for
ination, even giving rise to the ex- berg, no less) who lived from c. Ulrich Reinhardt, a tourism re- tourist attractions on the internet.
pression “Faustian deal,” a situation 1480-1540. He seems to fit many of searcher who heads the Foundation The long-term impact of the
where someone “makes a deal with Goethe in 1828, by Joseph the descriptions of the character in for Future Studies. "Many Germans pandemic can also be felt in the
the devil” in order to get rich, fa- Karl Stieler.
literature. Although he was a schol- are not prepared to forgo relaxing, aviation sector. According to the
mous, powerful – or any combina- The earliest version may have been ar, he achieved notoriety for his getting a break from their everyday latest statistics from the German
tion thereof. In any case there are all
related to stories about St. Theophi- skill as a travelling sometime physi- lives, enjoying new experiences, the Airports Association (ADV), the
sorts of German cultural DNA be- lus the Penitent in the Byzantine cian (his actual degree was in divin- sun, the beach and the ocean," Rein- number of passengers at German
hind this story.
East, who in the 500s was a clergy- ity!), magician, astrologer and hardt told DW. airports in the first five months of
Goethe’s version of the story is man said to have made a deal with alchemist – all of which earned him Domestic tourism has bounced 2023 was still 27% below the same
easily the most enduring, even if the
the devil to get even with the bishop church condemnation (apparently a back, too. The German hospitality period in 2019. The area most af-
legend was around for centuries: who unjustly fired him from his big reason for his constant travel- industry recorded 47 million over- fected are domestic flights. Where-
Faust, a dissatisfied and bored
position. He later repented, and ing). night stays in May this year, which as 2.1 million passengers embarked
scholar, is frustrated with the limits through the intercession of the He apparently died in a hotel- marks a 5.8% rise compared to the on domestic flights in May 2023,
of his knowledge, his powers and
Blessed Virgin Mary, was released room alchemy experiment-gone- pre-COVID-19 period. The German that figure was more than double in
his enjoyment of life. A very ac- from the contract with the devil. wrong in Staufen im Breisgau. His Travel Association also reports that May 2019. Among other things, a
commodating devil, Mephistophe-
In the British world, there is a body had been so badly mutilated in travel behavior is returning to pre- reduced number of flight connec-
les, offers him a deal: Faust will story about a Faustus who was the the explosion that legends grew that pandemic levels. "There is signifi- tions within Germany is to blame
have knowledge, power and plea-
incestuous offspring of King Vorti- the devil had come to claim his own. cantly more demand for foreign for this shortfall, says the ADV.
sure. The cost is that the devil will After Goethe, Faust stories con- travel again, although many families Moreover, more people are choos-
claim his soul, and Faust will be
tinued to multiply as authors contin- are very price-conscious and favor ing rail services instead.
eternally enslaved to him. ued to offer their own versions: all-inclusive deals," it says. There is Across the entire aviation indus-
From the perspective of aca-
There was Washington Irving’s The also a tendency to book holidays try, fewer flight connections are on
demia, there is a compelling art-im- Devil and Tom Walker (1824), further in advance. offer today than in 2019. At the
itating-life quality to the basic story
which inspired Stephen Vincent "Changes brought about by the same time, demand has skyrocket-
arc – at least to this point. Faust Benet’s The Devil and Daniel Web- coronavirus are most obvious and ed, driving up air fares. According
takes the deal, and gets much of
ster (1937). In 1947 Thomas Mann probably most lasting in the area of to data from Germany's Federal Sta-
which he had hoped for, including offered yet another variation. The business travel," says a spokeswom- tistical Office, tickets were 52.6%
carnal pleasures. But when Faust’s
list goes on, with renditions by Hei- an for the Federal Association of the more expensive in the first half of
girlfriend gives birth to his illegiti- nrich Heine, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude German Tourism Industry (BTW). 2023 than in the first half of 2021.
mate son, she is overcome with guilt
Stein…and Vaclav Havel. Then
and drowns the child. She, in turn, is there are plays and films.
executed for murder. Through her
The Faust theme also inspired
repentance and prayer, she ends up major music composers: Wagner,
saved, and Faust also escapes dam-
Schumann, Liszt, Berlioz, Mahler
nation. Female love thus triumphs and Stravinsky. Charles Gounod’s
over death and damnation.
Faust has become a staple of the
Even if Goethe’s version of the standard opera repertoire every-
story is perhaps the best remem-
where. There are numerous basic
bered, there are numerous versions morals to the story: the power of
that both predate it and postdate it Illustration by Harry Clarke
female love, the depth of God’s
from all over Europe and beyond. for Goethe's Faust.
mercy…and perhaps most impor-
tantly, to avoid playing footsie with
the devil in the first place, because
he’s a lot smarter than we are.

Pan Twardowski and the
devil by Michał Elwiro
Andriolli. The Polish
folklore legend bears many
similarities to the story of
Faust.

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