My husband and I try to go out every Friday night. Yesterday evening we managed to get away for an hour and a half which we spent at the only Irish Pub in Oberursel. I believe MacGowan’s Irish Pub opened in March 2009, or was it 2008?

The staff is very good and I should have complimented them for this yesterday evening, but I was too Guinness-happy when we left.  I had asked our waitress for a dinner recommendation and got an authentic one – the cooks are from Bangladesh, so why not try one of the Indian dishes? I did, and the Chicken Biryanni was excellent. My husband had a Lammhaxe (lamb chop in whiskey sauce) with homemade fries and he was pleased, too. This could very well become our regular early Friday night hang-out, especially if we can get a table near the fire place (try getting there before 8 p.m.)

Irish Pub and Restaurant in Oberursel

Once in a while, they have quiz night. Some people like it, some don’t, so check beforehand. Last time we were there, we had a gathering of Wer kennt Wen and it was difficult to get acquainted during quiz time. Nevertheless, I had fun and made second place!

A Guinness brew by the fire place

I like to take my out-of-country visitors to authentic German pubs, but this Irish Pub is getting added to my list of Places-to-show around Oberursel as well.

Last week, I had the opportunity to meet our local Camp King historian, Manfred Kopp, at the neighborhood church café. At the moment, the café’s basement houses all the Camp King documents he has been collecting over the years.

In 2005, I have been told, the City of Oberursel decided to gather all documents related to Camp King with the intent to make the collection available to the public at some point in the future.

The former Mountain Lodge on Camp King has been chosen as the designated location where the archives shall be kept. This project is supposed to be completed sometime this year.

Camp King historian and archivist, Manfred Kopp

Again, most locals do not realize the overall importance of Camp King in its history making. Initially a Siedlungshof (settlement teaching farms), then a camp for the German Air Force to interrogate American and British prisoners of war, until American Intelligence took over.

We are fortunate to have the historian, Manfred Kopp, to have taken such a big interest in Camp King’s history. Without him, more and more information would be lost within the next few years. Not many Zeitzeugen (contemporary witnesses) are left to tell us their stories.

For his efforts in restoring and archiving local history, he had been awarded the Saalburgpreis (Saalburg Award) 2008. He closed his acceptance speech with this quotation: „Nicht die Asche wollen wir bewahren, sondern die Glut weitergeben.“ (We are here not to conserve the ashes, but to pass on the embers).

Thanks, Mr. Kopp.

Edit: Initially, I had mistakenly written that Nazis interrogated the POWs. The interrogators were not Nazis. My apologies.

For a real taste of German cuisine, coupled with an authentic flair of a German Wirtshaus (pub), you should try the guesthouse Zum Schwanen in Oberursel.

Not only was it a romantic night to be out – because of the first real heavy snowfall – but Zum Schwanen is also located in an idyllic area, close to the town’s church and surrounded by other half-timbered houses.

Oberursel with St. Ursula Church (Wall on the left belongs to Zum Schwanen)

Just stepping into the place reminded me of my American/French brother-in-law’s comment two Christmases ago, when we took him there for my birthday: Gosh, this smells like Germany! We explored this point further as I find statements as such rather intriguing. Did the Sauerkraut marinade creep into the table patinas’ veins? Was the smell of beer hanging in the air? Was it the warm German bodies exhaling German food and drink through their pores? What does it mean to smell German, I wonder. Maybe I should not ask…

For the ones who remember Germany from the 60s and 70s: Please keep in mind shower habits have much improved since then. Entering a department store during a German summer no longer requires dwarfed nostrils.

Zum Schwanen

Looking out through the big lattice-windows onto the neighboring snow-covered roofs, while sitting in the warmth of a nice place and looking forward to dinner, put this eating-out experience rather close to the category of: unforgettable.

Leg of goose, potato dumplings, with red cabbage

Besides enjoying an excellent dinner, we also had very attentive service.

Last night, the restaurant earned five ***** from me.

A true Hessian dish is the infamous Handkäs mit Musik. I had it once right after I moved here eons ago and the second time was just a couple of weeks ago at our favorite bar Zum Adler in Oberursel.

What is Handkäs mit Musik (literal translation: hand cheese with music)?

Traditional Hessian dish: Handkäs' mit Musik

It is a patty, or two, made of sour milk cheese, topped with lots of marinated onions and optional caraway seeds, sitting in a vinegar dressing and served with slices of dark bread.

In the picture I am sitting where the infamous Red Baron used to sit, accompanied by the airplane engineers of the local Motorenwerke Oberursel, to enjoy his Dämmerschoppen (sundowner).

Ebbelwoi price list "Zum Adler"

I had my usual beer. Even after 14 years of living in Hessen, I have not become a friend of Ebbelwoi.

When we bought our garden in Schlossborn, the actual selling factor was that nothing could be planted. So if nothing could be planted, I had nothing to care for. “Bought”, we told the sellers. We were not interested in the subsidized German Schrebergarten as it comes with lots of regulations and the Schrebergarten Polizei will control it, too.

In our forest garden, even if you were to plant something, you would get frustrated as the plot’s soil is too dense with tree roots, stretching from both sides – fence to natural border of trees. So basically, if it does not grow wild on its own, it will not come up. A bit of Darwinsim, I might add.

Our garden plot is the length of a soccer field (I’d suppose) and unusual things come up through the soil in every season, every year.

We have chopped down 39 of the original 53 mutilated pine trees. Most of them were just hanging dead in each others’ arm branches and were dry enough to be chopped down with only an axe. We have gained much more sunlight which has changed the overall vegetation as well.

View from our garden across the fish pond

The Taunus mountains have a lot to offer and they are beautiful in every season.