Today I braved 20 degree temperatures to go to a Fasching Parade in my village. Fasching or Fastnacht comes from the German words vaschanc or vastschang (Fastschank) meaning fasting night, or eve of Lent, the period of fasting. Unfortnately I went to the wrong part of the village and I missed the entire thing! Since I was already bundled up for the cold, I decided to walk around in freakishly cold temparatures to take a few pictures of my village. I am still thawing out!
This part of Germany was bombed heavily during the war. In fact, just last fall a construction crew that was working on another US military base not far from here uncovered a bomb from WWII that never detonated. They had to evacuate part of the base and send in the EOD (bomb people) to make sure that it was a dud. Pretty amazing to think that it had been sitting in the ground for over 60 years!
The pictures I posted are from the center of our village. Most villages are very similar to this one, with cobble streets and a Church as the focal point in the center of town. Come spring the streets you see will be filled with vendors and you can walk through the weekend market and buy German pastries, or bratwurst as well as fresh fruits and vegetables and other goods.
Our village also has a weekly antique market where you can find beautiful furniture, books, even old WWII uniforms (Allied and German), medals and coins. A friend of ours told us that one day he was walking through the market and an elderly man tapped him on the shoulder and pulled out an old Third Reich ID card he still carries in his wallet. Our friend didn't really know what to say, he just nodded and walked on!
robin
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