Maske Für Dich – Eyes Open

Time / Duration

03/2020 - 06/2021

Focussing the first and second SARS-CoV-2 infection wave in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic

Motto

"Ich trage meine Maske Für Dich." // "Wearing my Mask For You."

Wearing a face mask to protect oneself and others from infectious disease was largely uncommon until 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly hit the entire world. The disease quickly put most of our daily and professional lives to halt, with an exponential number of people getting sadly (fatally) infected.

A group of committed students, doctors, scientists and creatives seized the opportunity to create the initiative "Maske Für Dich" (MfD) to fight back. It focussed on spreading scientific knowledge about the new SARS-CoV-2 virus and mechanisms of spreading, promoting the wearing and self-production (sewing) of cloth masks (when there were no other options) and coordinating their distribution using smart map technology (partnering with Mapotic from Czech Republic).

Our motto underlined that wearing a mask means taking responsibility not just for oneself but also for others, i.e. for the community and their weakest (in our case, the elderly and those with impaired immunity). Wearing a face mask for preventive or seasonal reasons (e.g. having a cold) remains a gesture of consideration and public health reason.

How It Worked Out

Our initiative went live with information detailing the correct usage of face masks and DIY-instructions within days after the lockdown im 02-03/2020. MfD recommended wearing of face masks in public weeks before the official authorities in Germany started issuing related laws. Taking inspiration from other societies that used to wear face masks in public, it was clear to us that masking face masks socially acceptable in our society is one of the easiest ways to stand up to the pandemic.

MfD mainly provided two services - a static website full of scientific and practical information around SARS-CoV-2 and a non-commercial map-based "mask community" bringing people together producing and looking for masks (when there were none commercially available). Both websites were clicked over 100.000-times during the first lockdown, offering +100.000 masks and +1.000 registered mask suppliers. Similar coverage was obtained on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram where we connected with many other German and international initiatives. Public outreach peaked when we were featured on TV in Galileo at 7 p.m. with +5000 clicks per second on our map service stress-testing our infrastructure.

Having had an incredibly challenging and rewarding time as part of the MfD-group in spring 2020 it is important to me to preserve parts of our work. It proved that a (semi-)professional, quickly scaling and helpful campaign can be established within days even under time-constraint and unusual conditions (first lockdown in Germany).