Everywhere Signs

The question I've been most asked since moving to Germany centers on what it's like here. I was reluctant to give an answer until I'd spent a year or more living here. Each week, I'll do my best to post something cultural or insightful pertaining to living in our corner of Germany. This week, I'll begin by giving you a peek of what it looks like from here.

Each afternoon I walk four blocks to the bus stop to pick up the kiddos. I've gotten to know the character of the buildings that line those blocks quite well. Below is a bit of what I see everyday.

Buildings that line the streets are bit of an enigma as there are usually no visible walk up entrances; instead, one sees myriad shuttered windows, coal shoots, and no doors. It's difficult to gauge where the entrance to a particular home may be because so many front doors open into an enclosed courtyard. If ever I open our courtyard doors when a passerby is walking near, I've noticed that he/she will always crane his/her neck to peer inside and sneak a look. It always makes me think of China and the Forbidden City or the Secret Garden. I'm sure they walk away disappointed having only seen a few cars and drying racks. Views into personal lives and spaces are rare here; however, some courtyard doors remain open during daylight hours and invite you inside. In our town, such places are usually the homes of local farmers who drive horse carts or tractors to their fields late of an evening or early morning, carry their offerings home and sell them from nooks inside their courtyards throughout the day. We have several such places in our village, and the daily offerings are always scrawled on a chalkboard which can easily be read and seen from the street. Almost all sell potatoes, onions and fresh eggs while others, like the picture below indicates, sell broader offerings including celery, nuts, apples and pears. The gentleman whose sign I've photographed still measures the vegetables using rusted weights and measures on a scale and places your picks in paper sacks. He was a bit camera shy!

It's impossible to get lost here as there are signs on every corner directing you to any number of places you'd wish to go. In our German state, there is a welcome sign when one drives into each village/city/town indicating the town's name, district affiliation and sister cities if those ties exist (we are sistered to two cities: one in France and one in Senegal). Additionally, and located directly beneath the welcome sign, one can always find which religious denominations are present in town and the times of services. Our village has an Evangelical Church and a Catholic Church.

Bitburger, a type of beer bottled an hour from where we live, is featured in every restaurant in town; its signs are ubiquitous. This particular restaurant is also advertising that it's selling the seasonal wine Federweisser, a young wine that has not fully fermented.

Below is our village's coat of arms which can be seen on a great number of buildings. The traditional occupations of local townspeople have been farmers, millers, and fishermen. Until the 1920's, floating watermills anchored here.

The Metzgerei's sign always makes the kiddos giggle. Each morning Frau Moeck updates the sign with the day's special. She and her husband run the shop efficiently and will even process game killed by local hunters. Each time I enter the shop, she offers the kiddos slices of various hams, salamis and frankfurters. She is determined that I will eat some of her smoked ham before we move.