I have to say there was a lot to remember about the town of Ottersweier to remember, but one of the biggest things to stand out in memory was that it was said to be relatively calm, but it has a pulse.
Didn’t that turn out to be the truth? No sleepy village for this Baden town, that’s for sure.
It looks like a typical rural town of some four villages, a place of just over 6,000 people spread out over thirty square kilometers in the Rastatt District filled with open fields, meadows and fruit trees.
Yet Ottersweier likes to let its hair down for a rarin’ good time when its festival time. Late April/early May is when most of the festivities for the year kick off, starting with the Maifest on April 30th/May 1st. This is followed by the Klosterhoffest just about a week (or so) later.
Ottersweier was once the site of a “convent” created by the Dowager Duchess Maria Victoria who established a school here for girls in the 18th century. Duchess Maria Victoria lived in what’s now Ottersweier’s Town Hall, just so you know.
Back to the festivals… May is also the time for Ottersweier’s Frühlingsfest, or Spring Festival and Music Festival, followed by the Antoniusfest and St. Johannes Pfarrfest that are both in June.
July has the Heckenfest over at the Grillplatz, with the Summer Festival right behind it in August. Don’t let the cooler weather fool you, there’s stuff going on in September (like the Autumn Festival); and December’s quite busy with all the Advent and Christmas celebrations going on.
Doesn’t leave you much time to get out on all the hiking and cycling trails in the Black Forest now, does it? It will if you make time for it. Make sure you suck in as much countryside as possible.
Oh, I said that Ottersweier’s “pulse” was the thing to stand out most in memory — but there’s no way I could ever forget anything about the Black Forest, could you?
