The Essence of Klein Ochsenfurt

The Expat in Germany blog put out a call for photographic submissions that "capture the essence of your city." 

I sent one for Ochsenfurt although technically I live in Klein Ochsenfurt.  "Klein" simply means "little" or "small."  So if you're one of those "specific types" we live in the little part of Ochsenfurt on the other side of the river from the main village.  Thanks to the expat blog, I'm inspired to share my surroundings with you...

Ochsenfurt is a beautiful town full of traditional timber frame houses.  It has a very strange and distinctive courthouse with a skeleton shaking an hourglass at you when you peer up at the clock tower to check the time! (Yikes, no wonder the folks can be a bit pushy...) 

Ochsenfurt is also the home of the Suedzucker Factory.  This means that every fall the wine-producing village is invaded with load after load of trucks hauling sugar beets.  The factory kicks into high gear and when they start cooking down the root vegetables you get blasted with a smell that somehow reminds me of burned pancakes.  If you're foreign like me, this might make you hungry.  If you're from here, you just shrug your shoulders or don't even notice it.

The rural roads get jammed with impatient drivers taking crazy risks to pass tractors and semis headed for the factory.  Since the first few days send me into some kind of food foraging frenzy, I try to keep my head on straight because several times I've seen the beets come tumbling off the over-loaded piles like some kind of sugar shower.  Then again, it isn't the first time the sky has fallen around here. 

Being the paranoid American that I am thoughts like wearing a hard hat or pimping my baby stroller with a metal brim to ward off flying vegetables cross my mind. 

After a few weeks of the unrelenting odor even I can't stand the smell of any sweet cooked thing being near me.  But then magically, just as suddenly as it appeared, the air goes back to it's clean clear self and for the next ten months you forget all about the fact that you live next to a food manufacturing plant.

We were asked to describe in a few sentences the essence of our chosen city and I struggled to concisely write my thoughts about my German home.  I finally went with;

"Capturing the essence of Ochsenfurt isn't easy because it's a small town with a lot of facets.  I could've went with the woodland loops, trailers full of sugar beets, the vineyards, or an image from the local wine fests, but in the end I decided to flash a sneak peek of the postcard perfect timber framed buildings that line it's main street.  I'm pretty sure I won't live in Germany forever, but I really do think a little bit of Ochsenfurt will always live in me."

The small but busy "Nixe" ferry transports residents back and forth over the river.  You can see the crumbled pedestrian foot bridge that is currently out of order due to an accident with a boat that crashed into it a few years ago. *Note to readers.  This is a sore spot with the residents.  Don't bring up the broken bridge at the wine festival.  You. Will. Get. An. Earful.  Seriously.

The other important industry to mention when it comes to our town is wine!  Ochsenfurt is full of grapes.  And as romantic as it sounds, it appears to me that it's a hell of a lot of work.  There is constant activity up in the fields.  These families work their butts off to produce some of the world's most famous wine.  At the end of this post I'll list the weekends for Klein Ochsenfurt weinfests scheduled for this season. 

Since I've never shared a lot of photos of our dear village, here's a selection of it's many sides.  The busy skinny tractors zipping up and down the rows of grapes, the goats next door, the record snowfall, and the rainbow over our street that ended directly in Studio Mailbox itself!  I searched everywhere for it's exact location hoping to find a pot of gold, but instead I just kept finding Boxbeutels.

Click over for more images from my beloved German home...

Weinfest Schedule, Kleinochsenfurt 2011

• June 23-26:  Weinfest Familie Roth
• July 16-18:  Weinfest Fam. Eyering (this one is small but awesomely set directly in the grapes!)
• August 27-29:  Weinfest Fam. Schreck
• September 2-5:  Weinfest Fam. Gruenewald

 

Comments

[Anne]

I adore the picture you submitted. What a great capture with the little boy with the balloon framed by such beautiful buildings. Now, I want to come visit you!!!

[Jul]

Looks like an adorable town!

[TJ]

Thanks ladies! Anne, the photo I submitted to the expat blog is on their site... I gave them the "best" one in my mind. Although the hanging hearts imply a "huge" market, ours is quaint! I've been telling you all along to come visit, maybe I should do more of these posts to lure y'all in!

[Linda]

Wonderful post with beautiful photos. This looks like a fabulous place to live... except for all that snow in the one photo.

[German Gems]

Thank you for sharing. Ochsenfurt has been on my "to visit" list and you've just given me more reasons to get there sooner rather than later. Looking forward to visiting with you one day soon.

[Andria]

Beautiful photos! Thank you for giving us some insight into where you live. It's really lovely.

[Jen]

TJ, your town is so adorable. It reminds me of a lot of where I live, including the little ferry that crosses the river. Really lovely photos.

[QiunnCreative]

What a great post. You should write for the local travel bureau--you make it so tempting to visit! That rainbow over your studio? The pot of gold? The real treasure lives right there--it's YOU!

[Skytimes]

Thanks for sharing your world with us. Loved reading it.

Very familiar the smell situation... I live in a beer-brewing city and twice a week we get "tortured" by brewing-stink. According to how the wind blows it's more or less bearable.

Lovely photos... cute place. Now off to check out the expat-site. xoxo

[Lay Hoon]

Beautiful & breath-taking !!
I especially likes the German homes.

[Laurel]

Thanks so much for the mention and for submitting your photo. I haven't been to Ochsenfurt yet, but it looks beautiful. I'll have to add it to the list :)

[Marion]

I don´t think I could live in such a small town, but you´ve made me waht to go there on vacation - looks great!

[karl marschall]

we live in maryland usa, my mother is 82 , she was born and raised in klien ochsenfurt, thanks for all the info