A Gem Called Wernigerode Part 1

We arrived in Wernigerode shortly after noon on Friday September 12th.  The 15 minute walk from the station to the apartment would not have normally been too bad but Kathleen found the cobble-stone roads made it very difficult to pull her suitcase.  We took a little break, then I became the pack-horse and hauled all the luggage the rest of the distance.  I would be rewarded handsomely by Kathleen later in the weekend.    

The apartment was in a renovated block of houses.  Once we passed through the passageway we entered into a courtyard.  This is where the car/motorcycle/bike parking was.  This design also made our stay a very quiet one despite having the windows cracked open.

The view of our apartment from the entrance, the coat rack is on the left  and the kitchen was on the right.

Our kitchen, everything but the cook was provided for.

Our living room.

Our bedroom.

Our bathroom.

Our home away from home.

We simply were amazed at the completeness of the apartment and knew our stay here would be a good one.  We quickly settled in and then set off to explore the town, this included buying food to stock the fridge for our weekend stay.  We had some vacuum packed meat that Bina so kindly gave us but we still needed fresh bread, milk and other foods. 

The time was approaching 2 PM so we wanted to find a bakery in a hurry. The custom in Germany is to buy one's fresh breads, rolls and other baked items at the un-godly hour of 6 or 7 AM.  At 2 PM one would be lucky to find something left and if they did, one would certainly have a very limited choice.

To aid my readers I have included a map of Wernigerode.  What impressed me the most was how compact the town was and how great the location of the apartment was.

The first mention of Wernigerode dates back to 1121, then again when town rights were granted in 1229.  By 1595 there were 2500 inhabitants, today it's roughly 35,000.  We were located in the "neustadt" which dates back to the 13th century.  Farming, mining and some manufacturing have and still are the primary industries in this area.

Walking out from our apartment put us on Hirtenstraß where we were confronted by this unusual fountain.  At first glance the looked like plain rooster and hen but on closer examination they were much more.  

 The well and the rooster and hen fountain on Hirtenstr.

Read this and you will learn about...

..these fellows...

...and why they do this!

An old building in the process of being restored.

It was nice to see the so much "old" all over the place however looks can be deceiving.  This old building was completely gutted on the inside but will be completely modernized when completed.  

Inside of the building was totally gutted and will be upgraded to today's standards inside while retaining its original look outside.

I do hope they get the sundial working again!  

On another street two blocks away shows the end results of this type of renovation and restoration. 

The rebuilding of old commercial properties was handled in the same manner.  The old facade was retained but modernized with new doors and windows.  The signage was small and discreet. This was the case with the ALDI supermarket we found.  The old building had a simple meter square sign on its front wall to identify it as a retail store.

 Karl & Theo Albrecht founded the chain in 1946 after taking over their father's store in Essen that had opened in 1913.  In 1962 the name of the chain was changed from Albrecht Diskont to ALDI and has since become one of the world's largest privately held companies.

In the case of a building being "too far gone" for restoration it would have been torn down and a new structure put in its place. One place we passed had an underground mall with a parking garage included while the above ground portion was constructed in such a way that it would blend in with its immediate neighbours.

Funny enough, this was a LiDL grocery store we came across after doing our food shopping moments before at their competitor, ALDI. 

View down Grüne Straße with a florist on the left, down the street on the right (behind the building in green) is a newer building with underground parking and another grocery store by the name of LiDL.  One can just make out the small sign on the post in front of the building naming the tenant inside. 

The Schwarz family started this chain in 1930 under the name of Schwarz Lebensmittel-Sortimentsgroßhunglung.  In 1973 they wanted to shorten the company's name like their competitor ALDI did.  The first choice was Schwarz Markt but was quickly dropped because it sounds exactly like "Schwarzmarkt" which means "black market"  LiDL comes from the surname of a retired school teacher and former partner of Josef Schwarz's, Herr Ludwig Lidl.  

I would have thought that an owner of a German car manufacturer would top the list of the richest people in Germany however it is not so, it's the owners of the large food chains that have the honour.  Albrecht family holds the top spot as well as the second spot followed by the Schwarz family in third.

In Canada we deliver hot BBQ chicken cars with funny hats, in Germany they have the PillenTAXI!