How brave German hairdressers won a battle for human dignity

“HUMAN DIGNITY shall be inviolable.“ The first article of Germany’s constitution turns out to have surprisingly broad application. For while much of Germany’s service sector remains in the deep freeze, on March 1st Germany’s 80,000 hair salons will be allowed to reopen. Some politicians frowned at the decision, taken in mid-February. But it has “something to do with dignity”, argued Markus Söder, Bavaria’s premier.Germany required hairdressers to close before Christmas. During this long winter many mop-headed Germans immersed themselves in distinctly undignified self-cutting Instagram tutorials, or made hair-raising dashes to salons in Luxembourg. Others went underground. Frauke (not her real name), a Berlin-based stylist, has been visiting clients for a secret snip “on the down low”, albeit with precautions. Lockdown fatigue has set in, she reckons. When hairdressers first closed last spring, almost all her regulars cancelled. This time a good 80% of them are willing to risk fines to maintain a decent trim.