"I haven't slept all night", says Maus and lies back in the chair that is in the office above the bakery. He could hardly describe what was going through his mind. "The decision I made was the right one," says Maus. "If I'm honest, I would have been better off closing last year, I wouldn't have burned through the money this year."

Even at the age of twelve, Maus sometimes stood in the bakery on Saturdays or Sundays in order to earn a little money. In 1993 he took over the business. But earning money was not going so well lately. “The customer has it in his head: I want to spend 40 cents on a bread roll and that’s it," says Maus. "Low-budget thinking when it comes to food makes it difficult." Fewer and fewer customers came to the bakery. "Until a few years ago we had 2,000 euros in the till on Saturdays, now it's 1,200 euros," says Maus. A few months ago, he told his employees that the business would not continue. He still employs four salespeople and three bakers. Some have been with them for a long time. Now, it was the last time spending Christmas and New Year's Eve together - for sure emotional. "Silvia and I both had moist eyes," says Maus.

Silvia Schmitz-Neuhaus is standing downstairs in the bakery this morning, where a copy shop will probably move in. She has worked for Maus for 26 years. "We do have strong customer loyalty," says the 56-year-old. Weddings, baptisms, funerals - they've been through everything. Some customers even shed tears. Schmitz-Neuhaus does not yet know how things will continue for her. Maus says: "For my employees there's a job on every corner." He knows the score. He used to have 20 or 30 applications on his desk for a job. Nowadays, hardly anyone wants to work in the bakery.

"Then I guess I'll have to learn the trade myself," jokes one customer. He's getting his bread rolls as usual. However, the ones with caraway seeds that the 78-year-old usually gets are no longer available. Because some ingredients are missing, Maus is getting creative in the last few days. He has found some almonds in the warehouse, so there is milk-almond-stollen. The baguette with corn crispies is also a new creation. "The apprentices here had a good teacher", the customer says before leaving the shop with his rolls. And now Maus needs a new start. He sent a job application to a company that refines or makes improvements to cars. He wants to start there in the accounting department. That's what he also did in his business.

Last question to Maus: Where will he buy his rolls in Godesberg from now on? That makes him laugh. "I never had to worry about breakfast," he says. In the bakery everything was always there: bread, butter, cold cuts. Perhaps, says Maus, from now on it will be cereal for him.

Orig. text: Dennis Scherer
Translation: ck