Fountain Queen

The Maize Maze in Weißkirchen

July 25, 2014 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

Last Saturday (19th July, 2014) saw the official opening of the Maize Maze between Weißkirchen and Steinbach for the new summer season. Fountain Queen Carolyn II. officially declared the maze open with its owner Richard Bickert, before going into the maze herself with her Brunnenmeister Harry.

The maze has a different theme this year, and this year it has taken on the shape of the South American continent – complete with the Falkand Islands. For adults there are questions to answer about the countries there and the answers are hidden in the maze, such as “how many spears does the Bolivian coat of arms have” Children have a different set of tasks which involves looking for photos of animals. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Bolivia, Carolyn II, Falkland Islands, Fountain Queen, Harry, Maislabyrinth, Maize, Maze, Richard Bickert, South America, Weisskirchen

Carolyn II. – Oberursel’s (English-speaking) Fountain Queen

June 13, 2014 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

With the annual fountain festival (Brunnenfest) starting this evening, it is time to catch up on some news from March – Oberursel’s new fountain queen.

It was on Saturday, 29th March, 2014, that the closely guarded secret of who would succeed Annabel I. as the town’s Brunnenkönigin.

Carolyn Wilkinson is only 18 years old, but she has lived in Oberursel since she was born. A past pupil of Frankfurt International School, she is currently doing a voluntary year at the Hohe Mark clinic before she starts a degree course, which co-incidentally is where “her” fountain will be this year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: BCV, brass band, Brunnenkoenigin, Carolyn II, Fountain Queen, Frohsinn, Grosse Garde, Harald Pratt, Inthronisation, Maxi Garde

This weekend is Brunnenfest

June 11, 2014 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

This weekend sees one of the largest festivals in Oberursel take place – the fountain festival or Brunnenfest.

The event kicks off on Friday evening at 6pm with an open-air church service at the Marktplatz followed by the official opening with Fountain Queen Carolyn II.

Other highlights include the inauguration of the Feldberg Fountain on Saturday morning in the grounds of the Hohmark Clinic at 11am and the 10km festival run at 10am on Sunday morning at 10am.

For children up to the age of 10 the Kindermeile will be in the Obere Hainstraße on Saturday between 3pm and 6pm and the annual duck race on the Urselbach will be held on Sunday at 3pm with tickets being sold in the Weidengasse.

Saturday evening there will also be a talent show for the town’s youth to show what they can do from 5pm until 7pm. The show is aptly named “Kickfactor: … and what can you do?”

The fun fair is in its usual place on the Bleiche car park as is the craft market in front of the town hall, with a flea market taking place in the grounds of the Seniorentreff on Saturday (9am to 10pm) and Sunday (12pm to 10pm).

And this year also sees the return of the closing fireworks at 10.30pm on Monday evening. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Brunnenfest, Carolyn II, duck race, Fireworks, Fountain festival, Fountain Queen, Kickfactor, Kindermeile, Seniorentreff

Annabel ‘s year as the Fountain Queen

March 29, 2014 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

As Annabel I.’s reign as the fountain queen of Oberursel comes to an end tonight when her successor is crowned, she took time this week to reflect on her year in office.

She said it had been a year of highlights, and listed one after another. She has spent a lot of her year visiting the clubs and charities in the town – at total of 96! She also had a lot of luck with the weather for most of those visits, with probably the worst downpour taking place during her own fountain festival (“Brunnenfest”).

She has also represented the town away from home, such as at a recording of the “Hessenquiz” show, in Hessen’s parliament chamber and even on an adventurous weekend in France. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Annabel I., Brunnenkoenigin, Brunnenmeister, Fountain Queen, Kurt

This weekend is Brunnenfest

May 22, 2013 By Graham Tappenden 2 Comments

This weekend sees one of the largest festivals in Oberursel take place – the fountain festival or Brunnenfest.

The event kicks off on Friday evening at 5.45pm with an open-air church service at the Marktplatz followed by the official opening with Fountain Queen Annabel I.

Other highlights include the inauguration of the Stork Fountain on Saturday morning at the Maasgrundweiher at 11am and the 10km festival run at 10am on Sunday morning at 10am.

The fun fair is in its usual place on the Bleiche car park as is the craft market in front of the town hall. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Annabel I., Brunnenfest, duck race, Fountain festival, Fountain Queen, Kindermeile

Annabel I. crowned Fountain Queen

March 25, 2013 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

“The Queen is dead – long live the Queen!” might not have been the most subtle way of telling Vanessa I. that her reign as Fountain Queen (Brunnenkönigin) had come to an end, but it was with these words that Charmaine Weisenbach took the coronation ceremony from a carnival atmosphere back to the middle ages.

The evening had started with a performance of “We want to entertain you” by members of the “Academy of Stage Arts”, and entertain us they did with performances of hits like “Voulez Vos coucher avec moi” and “Time Warp”, but it was the topical performances by two completely different groups of performers that signalled the end of Vanessa’s year and the start of her successors, with Annabel’s identify being kept for almost the first two hours.

To see Vanessa off, the “Garde” (similar to majorettes) of the Bommersheim Carnival Club (BCV) performed one piece after another, starting with the youngest children and going from one age group to the next.

Before long, it was time for Vanessa to hold her last speech as Fountain Queen. As ever, she spoke in rhyme. “Nun vorbei ist meine Zeit, die neue Königin steht bereit” she concluded (my time is over, the new Queen is standing by). [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Annabel I., Brunnenkoenigin, Brunnenmeister, Charmaine Weisenbach, coronation, Fountain Queen, Harry Hecker, Inthronisation, Kurt Hame, Stadthalle, Vanessa I.

Good bye, Vanessa!

March 11, 2013 By Graham Tappenden Leave a Comment

With her time on the throne as Oberursel’s fountain queen (Brunnenkönigin) coming to an end, the time came last week to say farewell to Vanessa I. before she officially hands over to her successor on 23rd March.

In the past year she has had 150 official engagements in the town with a approximately a further 20 outside in other towns.

She was accompanied, as ever, by her “Brunnenmeister” Harry Hecker, of whom Mayor Hans-Georg Brum said that you could always tell whether things were going right or wrong with an event by the way he looked.

He also complimented Vanessa, saying that she “always had a smile on her lips”. [Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Photos Tagged With: Brunnenkönigin, Fountain Queen, Harry Hecker, Vanessa I.