I am certainly one of the louder complainers and scolders - of course always justified, factually balanced and well-considered :) - when it comes to handling the biggest crisis in post-war history, but at this point I would also like to say that the halbersbacher hospitality group still exists because we have taken advantage of the government aid on offer. The short-time working allowance has always been an important instrument. However, by lowering the barriers to access, everyone has been able to benefit from it, including us. Even though we were hardly or not at all eligible to apply for the Ü1 and Ü2 benefits - and everything in between - we were able to make full use of the November and December benefits, as well as Ü3.
And here again a big THANK YOU! We were really lucky and rarely have we waited more than 4 weeks for our aid - absolutely not a matter of course, as we had to learn from many colleagues and the press. Yes, November aid could only be applied for at the end of March(!), but we were able to make ends meet because we as a company received a business loan from the Kfw development programme from our bank at our side, OstseeSparkasse Rostock (OSPA). The bank was not obliged to do this, because a residual risk remains with the bank and not everything with the Kfw Bank. OPSA: Thank you for your trust in our company. Full stop.
We are grateful to live in a country like Germany; many countries and societies envy us for our social structure, which, of course, also has its weaknesses, but has saved us here and very specifically.
Even large companies with dozens or hundreds of hotels were not able to earn enough money in previous years to survive this crisis - and we certainly weren't able to. We have never put money "on the high edge", but have always invested diligently in the company - and we continue to do so! And we are able to do this because, in addition to many other measures, we were in a position to utilise government aid.
Good that this was the case. It's a good thing that this is the case. Thank you. Full stop.
