Trip to Bischhausen on June 8, 2016

In the context of the event series "Show your village!" we went to visit the village of Bischhausen on Wednesday, June 8, with a small group of international and German studens and PhD students. There, we were warmly welcomed by the innkeeper Renée-Marie Dutschke and the guardian of local traditions Heinrich Deppe introduced us to various aspects of the history and customs of Bischhausen.
After some snacks and drinks in the classy ambiance of "Besenwirtschaft Dutschke" (literally "Besenwirtschaft" means 'broom bar', a kind of seasonal country restaurant with homemade food) we went to explore the village with its beautiful old timberframe buildings and farms that are all nicely decorated and give a well-maintained impression. Every now and then, Heinrich Deppe stopped to tell us stories and anecdotes connected to places and people. He himself was born in Bischhausen and his family farmed on the outskirts of the village for centuries.

The demographic change on the countryside is visibile in buildings like the old school or the former shop, as today there is neither a school nor any shop left in Bischhausen. Also, from a large number of farms only a century ago, only two are still actively worked today. Still, the count of inhabitants seems to be rather stable due to the influx of new inhabitants. These are mostly former city dwellers that chose life on the countryside for individual reasons, for example to keep their own horses or to enjoy long walks in almost untouched nature. For sure, in Bischhausen all is right with the world: There is almost no noise, the street lanterns are turned off at 10 pm and the clear night sky has more stars than a city dweller could ever imagine.


Passing the fire water pond and the fire station we earned some incredulous glances of several alpacas and chicken that were kept on a meadow nearby. After ample admiration of the church interior we were invited to have coffee and cake with the local womens' group and the diacon. The women and also some men of Bischhausen and the neighboring viallges were very curious and soon a lively discussion developed. Main topics included the work- and life situation of young people nowadays and experience of the senior citizens back in their yout and also life on the countryside compared to life in the city now and then. Time flew by and we could have chatted on for some more hours, but we had to take our leave to return to Göttingen.

Thanks to everyone who organized and participated in this great event!

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