Bottrop.
There was Bottrop beer, music and street theatre: the black market was a hot spot in Bottrop. Now there is an attempt to revive him.
Will the popular Bottrop black market soon be revived – just as it was from the beginning: with music, street theatre, snacks, Bottrop beer and good coffee? Creator David Schraven is ready to try again in the shadow of the Cyriakuskirche on the Kirchplatz. Schraven’s goal is also to strengthen the weakening weekly market with the small, fine market. However, this is still prevented by the outdated market law of all things. According to this, the city cannot allow everything that makes the black market so popular, it is said – neither music, nor theater and certainly no beer.
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In the meantime, however, the black market maker has found a lot of support for his project in the city council. The SPD, CDU and Greens are joining forces to enable the black market with its special features to be on the fringes of the weekly market again. “The black market has become an attraction in downtown Bottrop that people have a lot of fun with. So of course we’ll make that possible again, if at all possible,” says SPD councilor Matthias Buschfeld, justifying the initiative of the three largest council groups.
Small market cannot fight large vacancies
The party spokesman is therefore asking the administration to redesign the market area in the city center so that the black market can take place at Kirchplatz 2 – 4, i.e. on the pedestrian zone in front of the St. Cyriakus community center and the market district kiosk. In concrete terms, this reorganization means that the area for the black market officially no longer belongs to the actual weekly market. Then the administration could allow the beer bar, music and drama there, is the theory of the black market fans in the city council.
David Schraven and his helpers initially popularized the black market on the square in front of the old Karstadt building; on the square by the former Mensing fountain, as many Bottrop residents still say today. The fact that there hasn’t been a net opening for years, which Schraven views critically, and the increasing vacancy in the shops on Hansastrasse had literally driven the black market makers out of there.
Many would like the black market to be like it was from the start
“We are not in a position to work against this trend with our resources,” Schraven explained to the party spokesman about the new attempt on the church square. The small market had moved there, so to speak, on the doorstep of the market district kiosk. Coffee and tea are also available. However, many would also like to see a black market like it used to be at the new address. Schraven also experienced this at the downtown forum.
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“That’s why we considered whether we could revive the real black market there,” explains the Bottroper. However, the mayor would have to separate the area on the street side in front of Kirchplatz 2 to 4 from the weekly market. “We could then organize the black market there again, like we used to do at Mensingbrunnen. Then we could make music there again and serve Bottrop beer,” Schraven hopes.
In administration, fresh ideas are met with skepticism
Apparently, he encounters skepticism in the administration. In the town hall, one would prefer to see the black market on the large Berliner Platz or on the Altmarkt. “However, we cannot afford that – that would lead to the fragmentation of our energy,” Schraven rejects and also finds understanding with SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Buschfeld. Above all, both consider the Altmarkt to be a bad address for the black market. “People don’t come there,” says David Schraven.
On Kirchplatz, however, the Bottroper could act more effectively on the doorstep of the Markviertel kiosk and the Cyriakus community center and also involve others: for example the chess club, the cultural office, church groups and the interest groups in the city. David Schraven hopes: “The weakening weekly market would be permanently strengthened by more people finding a better quality of life there”.
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