The past Saturday, 28 August, I joined Mr. Kopp’s guided tour through the Camp King areal once more. With about 20 visitors in tow, we walked through Camp King through drizzling rain, sudden sun shine, and heavy showers.

A springlike moment near the Officers' Club Camp King

Nevertheless, it was a good tour and I was glad to see more people showing up (in May 2010, there were only five visitors). The next one is scheduled for May 2011.

Our group touring Camp King in August 2010

For more information on extra tours, contact Manfred Kopp at CampKingOberursel.

Hitler didn’t travel. Stalin didn’t travel. Saddam Hussein never traveled. They didn’t want to have their orthodoxy challenged.

- Howard Gardner -

The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think And How Schools Should Teach from Amazon.com

Years ago, our son used to collect toy trucks from various companies such as Göller, Punica, Tri Top and other beverage makers.

These trucks came as promotional items from companies selling non-alcoholic as well as alcoholic drinks. Some trucks also used to be for sale in shops and super markets. Never mind objecting children to alcohol ads on toys – we are in Germany!

Göller toy truck

I had never seen a real one in my life before, so the only image I had was toy-size. Imagine my surprise one morning in Franconia, when I saw a real truck waiting at the corner of Main Street.

Gönn Dir ein Göller truck

For a second I thought I saw an over-sized toy truck in front of me. For the locals this must be a common sight, but for me it surely wasn’t.

Göller Bier is brewed in Zeil am Main, a small town in Lower Franconia and Göller is one of the 1250 breweries Germany-wide. These 1250 breweries make 7500 different kinds of beer.

When you open Göller…das Bier aus Zeil, sit back and enjoy the intro ad.

Gönn’ Dir ein Göller = Treat yourself to a Göller beer

Good news for all of us expats, re-pats, global nomads, or just late shoppers.

Supermarket REWE has extended its shopping hours to 24:00. At the moment, this applies to one local store only: Oberursel, Im Zimmermühlenweg. But if this proves to be a smart move, I am sure more will follow suit.

Visit REWE to see the list of local supermarkets and shopping hours. Below Finden Sie Ihren Markt, just type in your location.

Also, for expats being used to delivery service, lebensmittel kurier delivers in towns such as Bad Homburg, Oberursel, Wiesbaden, Schmitten and Kronberg (among others).

The other day I took a little detour through the forest on my way home and came by these abandoned walls. I had seen them many times in the past, but not knowing what they were, I stopped perceiving their existence, until now.

Shooting Range Oberursel

Since 1900, this areal, sitting close to the entrance of the Oberursel-Nord forest, has been in the hands of the local gun club. In the beginning, it was used for shooting practise by a vigilante group. After the war, that same group formed the gun club as it is today.

In its early days, the shooting range used to be 300 meters, which was getting very close to the local animal shelter (still there today). Today’s range only measures about 100 meters.

These walls had been built for protection; such as for missed targets as well as reducing noise. A long-time resident also mentioned that trenches had been built  below the walls during WW II. One German resident stated it still belonged to the local Schützenverein (shooting club), but it seems without any activity.

Joggers, dog walkers, and whole families pass by there all the time. There is no sign such as Betreten verboten! (Keep off), the area is not fenced in either.

Interestingly enough, right next to it, a local kindergarden has built an out-door play center, where groups are taken to once a week.

This is a curious mix of historical remnants and  modern day-care sitting side by side in the woods.