Enjoyable Oddities: Volume 2 - Schrebergärten

      Well I'll be, its the second post of any type that I've done so far.  This week's installment examines the Schrebergärten, or "allotment gardens," which can be found all over Germany, although are more common around cities.
     The original push for these types of gardens cam from Moritz Schreber, a physician and member of the University of Leipzig's faculty in early to mid 1800's, as a response to the difficulty in obtaining food in cities during the Industrial Revolution.  The first German law in support of these gardens was passed in 1919.  There are currently over 1 million such gardens in the country.

In the parking lot checkers game, red is winning.

    When I first moved into my student apartment here in Leipzig, I couldn't help but notice that there was what appeared to be a small village, ever so casually placed, just outside of my window.  After taking a closer look at what each lot contained, it reminded me of the small city gardens, which one of my instructors at the Goethe Institüt had made mention of during my time there in March.

I looked up Gaststätte.  It means "inn."

     One day, after my classes were finished, I decided to get off of my tram a stop early, and find out what all the fuss was about.  As with many places in the United States, although more commonly found on sports arenas and show venues, this particular garden complex seems to be sponsored by a local beer company (which can be found approximately 20 minutes northeast of Leipzig).

The building is attempting to hide behind the mural.

     Alternatively, it just happens to be the type of beer served at the Biergarten just inside the front gate.  Either way, there is in fact a Biergarten within the complex.  They also have cheap ice cream, if you prefer that to beer.

There were people in the house that this garden belongs to,
so you will have to imagine someone's garden shed containing
a small party.

     Some of the plots contain gardens, while others have children's swings, plants, and patio furniture under awnings or tents.  There is an enormous amount of shade and privacy creating greenery, with various types of evergreen plants being the most popular choices.  If you can tell, there is a miniature greenhouse-like structure in the middle-left of the picture on the left.  There were other structures like it on different plots, which seem to be used to protect the plant from birds and insects, or to help whatever is growing to do so in the (relatively) colder weather.

Extra private = extra German.

     The small houses on the plots typically look like a pair of large American garden sheds attached at the side, with each half having its own patch of land, exterior style on the building itself.  While the style and color of each building appears to be very much a personal decision, the overarching theme are the large bushes and plants in place to block off view from the miniature "streets" through the complex, which is not too dissimilar to the practice in the United States of putting up a picket fence in places where the houses are particularly close together.

Welcome to "Finch Way!"

     These small gardens may not be as important to the people of Leipzig in the same sense that they would have been during the Industrial Revolution, but considering the sheer quantity of them in Germany (try riding the train between cities and not seeing one!), they clearly hold a special place in the German culture memory, and frankly, I think we could learn from in the United States.  Who wouldn't want their own little patch of greenery in a city?

Proverb of the Day:

There was only one street musician downtown today.

It's fine though, it wasn't the overzealous accordion guy from Halle.

*The background music is from a personal music project in progress.

**It turns out I forgot the music here.  Sorry about that.