German Bakery won’t reopen on Christmas

While Pune gears up for Christmas and New Year celebrations, the iconic German Bakery in the Koregaon Park area will remain quiet for the second consecutive year during the festive season.

The bakery is closed since the day it was bombed in 2010 and there was speculation that it might reopen on this Christmas. However, according to the proprietor of the bakery, Snehal Kharose, it will reopen only in January 2012.

One of the most popular hang-outs in the city, especially among the foreigners, the German Bakery situated on North Main Road of Koregaon Park was bombed by terrorists on February 13, 2010 claiming 17 lives.'

From the day of the blast in the bakery, the lanes of Koregaon Park area seem to have gone quiet. There used to be huge celebrations during Christmas and New Year in the bakery ever since it was opened in Pune in 1989 by German resident Woody Klaus. However, after the blast, the bakery continues to remain closed and there are no celebrations for two years now.

Puneites were hoping that the bakery will open this Christmas and life will come back to normal in Koregaon Park, but proprietor of the bakery, Snehal Kharose told DNA that it will not open on December 25 as the construction work is yet to be completed.
Kharose said, “We were hoping that the construction of the bakery will be completed and we will manage to reopen the bakery on December 25. Most of the construction work of the bakery is completed but still some work is pending. Hence, we will not be able to reopen the bakery on Christmas or even on December 31 this year.’’

After the blast, Kharose has decided to make some changes in the bakery’s structure. The sitting arrangement in the old German Bakery was only on the ground floor, but according to the new plan, the ground floor will be spread on an area of 750 sq feet with bakery’s food counter. A 1,100 sq feet area on the first floor will have a seating area with a capacity to accommodate nearly 80 people.

Kharose is hopeful that the remaining work will be completed in a few weeks and  said the bakery will reopen by second week of January 2012. “We are hopeful that the New Year will also bring happiness with reopening of the bakery. We have started cleaning the debris and the rest of the work will be completed in a couple of weeks. Now, our aim is to start the New Year on a right note with
reopening of the bakery,’’ Kharose added.