Music and applause - German balconies are center stage against coronavirus

Record ID: 1465295

  • Title: Music and applause - German balconies are center stage against coronavirus
  • Date: 22nd March 2020
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (German) MUSICIAN, THEO KRUMBACH, SAYING: "People applaud. We open the window, move a couple of flowerpots out of the way, stand out there and we never quite know if it's appropriate right now or not. And then we just start playing into the silence. So many windows are lit up, which didn't used to be the case. Everyone's at home and the windows are all lit and people are applauding. When the applause stops we keep playing into the darkness, or rather into the lit-up windows." COLOGNE, GERMANY (MARCH 19, 2020) (REUTERS) LIT-UP WINDOWS, MUSIC HEARD FOLLOWED BY WHISTLING AND CLAPPING BERLIN, GERMANY (MARCH 21, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BERLIN SKYLINE WITH TV TOWER, CLAPPING AND WHISTLING HEARD DARK STREET, ACCORDION AND BANGING POTS HEARD HAMBURG, GERMANY (MARCH 21, 2020) (REUTERS) DARK STREET, APPLAUSE HEARD
  • Embargoed: 5th April 2020 11:18
  • Keywords: balconies clapping coronavirus music singing
  • Location: COLOGNE, BERLIN, HAMBURG, GERMANY
  • City: COLOGNE, BERLIN, HAMBURG, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Health/Medicine,Music
  • Reuters ID: LVA005C64VCCN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: As the coronavirus outbreak sees Germans ordered to stay home, one couple in Cologne is doing what they can to relieve the boredom by giving concerts on their balconies. Bettina Wagner and Theo Krumbach have been making music together for years, specialising in "kölsche Lieder" - or traditional songs from the Cologne area. Their performances on their balcony - hastily cleared of flowerpots - have garnered enthusiastic applause from their neighbours. Wagner told Reuters she was trying to do her bit to help people get through a difficult situation.
    Others have had similar ideas, with balcony sing-alongs and performances taking place in countries hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, like Italy and Spain. People have also been taking to their windows, balconies and terraces to show support for health workers following calls on social media.
    In Berlin and Hamburg on Saturday evening (March 21), applause rang out across darkened streets and courtyards. There have been similar shows of support from Belgium to Bulgaria.
    (Production: Stephane Nitschke, Stephan Schepers, Katie Stephens)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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