The ladies from the games department are definitely not running out of sorting work these days.
©cth
The preparations for Austria’s largest flea market are in the final sprint.
Dornbirn. Last Saturday was the last opportunity to hand in goods for the 48th Dornbirn flea market – which will take place next weekend. “The collection results are very encouraging,” says Sunny Fässler, head of the flea market organization. For the numerous (almost 600 in the past five weeks – that corresponds to 15,000 working hours) this means a lot of work and this year you are facing completely new challenges. The flea market had to be paused for three years due to the pandemic, and the organizers are now noticing this when it comes to the delivery of goods.
During the visit on Tuesday evening, the boxes are still piling up and the employees are buzzing through the exhibition halls like ants. The last week before the event is all about setting up and preparing the sales stands. Also this year, umpteen “old hands” from the flea market team are in action, but some newcomers have also joined them and are amazed at the overwhelming amount of things that have been disposed of by the population.
When it comes to the score, Pia and Johanna work their way through what feels like a million games and puzzles, as they explain with a laugh. The two girl scouts will be there for the first time in 2023 and despite the enormous effort, the good mood prevails and humor is definitely not neglected at work. They will receive help this evening from Andrea Pastor from the Fasnazunft Oberschorbach, whose members are also celebrating their premiere as helpers at the flea market this year due to the many donations of goods.
Right next door at the toys, Tanja Rusch groans a little at the sight of the many wooden boxes with cars. “I’ve been part of the flea market team for twelve years, but that’s never happened before. We can’t fit all the things and have to put a few boxes aside,” she explains. This means that a few more treasures should come to light on Sunday, the second day of sale, which should certainly please the many bargain hunters (approx. 28,000 in 2019).
Young and old in harmony at work
A curve further, Elfi Mayer-Kollmannsberger is fighting his way through mountains of crockery. She has been a helper from the very beginning, so to speak, and was already working for the flea market when it was still taking place in the town hall in Dornbirn. “It was a completely different dimension, Mrs. Huber from the Mohrenbräu brought us a snack in between,” she recalls with a smile and gives a friendly wave to her young colleague Lisa Landshut, who is just pushing a pallet truck through the hall. The ten-year-old is also part of the newcomers’ crew – “but only in terms of putting things away, because I was already working on the toys at the last flea market on the sales weekend,” she says proudly.
Speaking of proud. The winter equipment team around Werner Winsauer, better known as “Winse”, is also dedicating itself to a “proud” amount of skis that evening in the hall next door. Believe it or not, 40 trolleys filled with skis and snowboards have arrived this year. “It’s questionable whether we’ll sell all of that, but the motto here is ‘better too much than too little’!” he says calmly.
These prospects should make the hearts of flea market fans beat faster. It is clear that the 2023 flea market will present visitors with a wider range than ever before.
The 48th Dornbirn Flea Market will take place on Saturday, February 4th from 8am to 5pm and on Sunday from 9am to 12pm in the Dornbirner Messe area, Halls 9 to 13. (cth)
