Alright, you caught me. I cheated. This is not an easy thing to admit, ya know. But, I guess the bigger question is, to what am I confessing? Just because we’re friends, I’ll come clean. I didn’t just show up on the doorstep of Offenbach an der Queich on a lark — I first saw it on the internet.
Don’t judge, wait until you hear my story. I couldn’t help it, the town itself is quite proud of its storks. So much in fact, they added a “storkcam” to their official website (unfortunately currently inactive). It’s amazing what you can find online these days. ;-)
So, that got me thinking — if this is an average day in a small Palatinate town, I got to see more. What I found wasn’t just the town of Offenbach, but a whole Collective Municipality with the same name.
And since I started off about the storks, it’s best to start off a trip to Offenbach in the village of Bornheim — where you’ll find them. What you’ll also find is a village that’s won the Unser Dorf soll schöner werden award (Our Village is Beautiful), not once, but twice (1991 and 1995 respectively). Bornheim is also the village to visit for the annual Saulbrunnenfest and Kerwe events.
Not bad for a village that’s not even four square kilometers, huh?
Essingen is almost three times its size, and just as delightful. Wine making is big business, but isn’t it nice to know you can visit the 13th century Wendelin Chapel (with 15th century paintings) and a 16th century Town Hall too?
By the way, Essingen holds its annual Fete on the fourth weekend of August, in case anyone’s interested.
Hochstadt (Pfalz) is one of Offenbach’s biggest villages — got to grow those grapes somewhere, I guess. This is a real party-animal town with Wine Bars, a Wine Trail, a Wine Festival (in August), a Church Fete (September), and Forest Festival (May).
Offenbach itself is quite tame compared to that, but great nonetheless. While it is the most populated of all the villages, you won’t feel crowded as you walk along its Hauptstraße staring at all the half-timbered houses. Whereas I’m sure you’ll pick out your photo for its Mehrgenerationenhaus (Multigenerations House) with its interesting book & recording pen sculpture in front.
Now I imagine how the storks try to rewrite what I’ve written here…
Most folks get all flustered as they navigate their way around the “information superhighway,” but it can lead you to places like Offenbach an der Queich.