Cologne called 'big success' despite major storm
Brian Carroll -- Furniture Today, January 28, 2007
Cologne, Germany — Europe's worst storm in five years ripped through Germany this month, canceling flights, halting trains and threatening to undermine the International Furniture Fair Cologne here.
Late in the fair's week-long run earlier this month, the storm caused Lufthansa to cancel more than 300 flights. And for the first time in its history, the German train system shut down.
Although the storm killed a dozen in Germany and damaged one of Cologne's prestigious museums, it came late enough during the week to allow the fair's exhibitors and buyers to conduct most of their business.
The train system is "still struggling to get back on schedule," said Juergen Hopf, who directs Rolf Benz's press office.
The show was only slightly affected, according to Hopf. Many stayed longer than they had planned, and perhaps the weather held some away, but the fair was "a big success," with sales representatives "very busy throughout," he said.
Tamara Karcher, who handles press relations and marketing for manufacturer Walter Knoll, said the weather resulted in "far less people" on Thursday and Friday than in year's past. "On Thursday night, the storm was so bad that we couldn't even leave our hotel. But we are fine now," she said.
Named "Kyrill" by German meteorologists, the winds and rain caused what insurance companies here are estimating to be more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in damage to Europe's biggest economy, according to Agence-France Presse.
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