The Hessenpark in Neu-Anspach, close to Frankfurt am Main
- 400 years of German history (no, this is not boring! 
)
Hi Mommy,
like I said, on Saturday Anja took us to the Hessenpark, an open air museum with original buildings from all over the state of Hessen, showing 400 years of German history, as it was lived in the state of Hessen.
No, this was not, repeat not, boring!
On the contrary, as they say on the homepage of the Hessenpark:
| Quote: |
| Enjoy your trip: You will find yourself in the midst of daily life as it was experienced by our ancestors. You can compare their working methods and lifestyles with our way of life in the 21st Century. |
source
When you get to the Hessenpark, which is located in the lovely wooded area "Taunus", about 10 miles from Frankfurt, there is a large area where you can enjoy things, shop, eat and drink without having to pay the entrance fee.
You start out with a soap shop and soap museum housed in - what else? - a timber house
They sell homemade soaps and sachets, without any chemical additives.
Ooooh, you wouldn't believe the wonderful smell of that place!!! 
Anja bought a sachet that smells like roses
and this is a really old advertisement for the detergent "Persil". The detergent still exists today
The next shop sold brushes - the good old fashioned brushes made of wood and pork bristles, not this new fangled plastic stuff
They even had some old fashioned feather dusters, like you see in really old movies
When you walk on and follow the sign
you get to the "market place"
a pharmacy
a churchbell
a building dated back to 1589, with its gate showing the date of construction
A very interesting building was the "Kolonialwarenladen" (general store). Like the general stores in the American West, these stores sold everything: from sewing needles to sausage, and from ladies' corsets to men's shoes
Advertising signs for Maggi soups. Maggi soups are still sold and eaten today. They are quite tasty, Anja said
We walked on towards the actual entrance of the park
All these things you can see without having to pay entrance fee. You can shop, look at the old buildings, eat and drink. And you have not even entered the actual Hessenpark!
By the way:
These buildings are not replicas.
Instead, they were purchased all over Hessen (many of them in ruins), dismantled, transported to the Hessenpark, and there they were rebuilt from the original parts and restored to look the way they used to look. Using the same materials and techniques that were used in the old days.
Here is a building that is not quite finished, so you can see how it is made: of a wooden frame that is filled with clay mixed with straw
As soon as we got inside the actual park, we needed a rest in another market square
Anja bought some apple wine (yes, the stuff that is traditionally served in a Bembel )
and we all enjoyed a nice, cool drink
While we were resting, a waggon drawn by real work horses came by
... now, I will rest for a little while, too, before continuing my story...
Hugs
Terry
