Gabriele and Dirk Hirsen were oblivious to the morning traffic jams. They had already arrived in the Rheinaue at 5.30 a.m. on Saturday morning to set up their stall. A few hours later, visitors are milling around and browsing through antiques and jumble. While his wife is deep in a conversation with a customer, Dirk Hirsen reminisces: " As a child in the 1980s, I used to sell with my father. Back then, the flea market was still on the Beuel side of the Rhine."

The couple is planning to set up their stall again on all the dates of the Rheinauen flea market. They always have something to sell, reports Hirsen: "We always collect throughout the winter for the next flea market season." For a few days, the two were busy clearing out the cellar. "My wife told me I had too many tools. They had to go," he says. The cordless screwdriver changed hands first thing this morning. No sooner has he reported this than he is back in his element, showing an interested customer a 1970s camera. The price is usually a matter of negotiation at the Hirsens' stand.

The same is true at Sabine Müller's stand across the way. She sells at the flea market once a season. This time the whole sales table is filled with toys that belonged to her 13-year-old daughter. "Mariella has outgrown her toys now. So it was time to clean out together. That gives us a lot of space at home," says Müller, who is very pleased with sales so far. The Lego Friends toys in particular are in great demand, the mother reports: "The Lego theme park was the first to go this morning." The rummage box, filled with all kinds of toys, is also emptying rapidly. "You can get three pieces from the box for one euro," Müller tells an interested customer.

"It's going very well today, especially with baby clothes," says Laura Berger, who is there with her whole family - three generations. Together they are selling baby, children's and adult clothes. "The children have grown out of them and the grandchildren are also growing up fast. We can buy new clothes from the proceeds," Berger says. She and her family set the price quite intuitively; they often engage in haggling.

"I don't want to give away valuable items of clothing too cheaply. I'd rather take them home again," says Berger. She likes the Rheinauen flea market because of the pleasant atmosphere, and selling over the internet is out of the question for her: "It's much more fun when you can chat with people and exchange ideas."

Miriam Hagen, who has her stall on the opposite side of the path, looks in on Berger. Her eye falls directly on a small plush donkey: "I have to have that, it's my daughter's favourite cuddly toy," she says, revealing: "I've already collected eight Emils at home." So her two-year-old daughter Elisa always has an Emil by her side - at daycare, in the car or when visiting grandpa. "Emil is always there," says Hagen.

A few metres away, Natalie Hanke has just bought an old typewriter. "I stumbled upon it quite by chance," she says. She enjoys browsing through the flea market - without focusing on anything in particular: "I never search, I find," explains the visitor.

The organiser was also very satisfied with the first Rheinauen Flea Market. "We had 650 reservations. In addition, a large number joined spontaneously this morning. On the first date of the season, when the weather is usually still unstable, people are a bit more reserved," says Lena Schwanke, from the Melan macht Märkte organiser.

A visit to the flea market did not go so well for some bargain hunters who had parked their vehicles in the absolute no-stopping zone around the Rheinaue: The public order office was on duty all day and had their vehicles rigorously towed away.