Organic Eschwege and Bad Sooden-Allendorf

Eschwege

Although Eschwege provides medical and cultural facilities for many smaller (and in the past often more important) small towns around and moreover is one of the few (West-)German towns where people transport by railway was discontinued in the 1980-ies and re-opened (with a new railway station) by the end of 2009, I couldn't find any cafe, restaurant or eatery serving at least a few organic items.

Even the organic convenience store Biotop on the premises of the former mutual savings bank ("Sparkasse") does not have a cafe corner. But you can order a roll with cheese of your choice to take with you from their bakery and cheese bar. The friendly and well-assorted shop with its archetypal wooden interior offers all you need of organic food and household neceessities, and, as delivery service "The rolling organic shop" ("Der rollende Bioladen") also serves the neighbouring municipality of Bad Sooden-Allendorf.

If you cannot find all you want here, the town's Reformhaus (health food shop) and the Tegut supermarket offer a good selection of organic products aside their conventional fare.

For organic eggs you may also take a bike tour to the "Regiomat" vending machine of the nearby organic Werragut farm. There you can also order and collect bread and roles from the farm's bakery; their hens are butchered and sold by Frischgeflügel Roth in Witzenhausen.

Bad Sooden

The medieval spa twin-town with its beautiful half-timbered houses does no longer have an organic corner store, but it sports a Sunday-open shop selling herbal teas, organic skincare, natural perfumes and incense, books on wellbeing, a selection of fairly traded sweets and more: Eden – gesund & mehr in Sooden.

For organic food on the Sooden side of the Werra river (including unpackaged organic bread and rolls) head to the (conventional) Tegut supermarket in the Sooden industrial area (more or less a lifeless parking lot). A branch of the drugstore chain DM a five minutes walk from the train station is offering a huge range of pre-packaged organic dry food and preserves as well as certified natural bodycare.

Spa guests and patients of the various rehab clinics in the medieval salter town are also the main target audience of Café Feldmann, the spa town's grand cafe and confectioners' shop by the spa gardens (Kurpark). The cafe used to be a customer of the no longer existing organic Bäckerei Schill, but the breakfast rolls you get when staying overnight in the attached bike-friendly bed & breakfast place or have breakfast at the cafe are no longer organic in 2024. The milk used for coffee drinks and tea are organic, and eggs served for breakfast or lunch, too. The waitress had to find out herself when I inquired, so there's still a chance that more organic ingredients are (occasionally) being used in the kitchen, but I can't tell.

Allendorf

On the other side of the train line and the Werra river, in the older town of Allendorf (in the medievals Sooden was the "industrial area" while everyone, from the salters to the owners of the salt pans lived in Allendorf) you'll find a fully organic wine shop cum cafe, the Laden 41. In addition to the wine, you'll find honey, greek olive oil and preserves, local cheese, and bread and rolls from the Werragut farm. The latter you have to order upfront, but since the shop keeper always orders a little more you may buy a bread spontaneously. Unfortunately it's open only three half days of the week. Whether you are interested in having an organic coffee, beer, lemonade or a glass of wine, or are in the mood for a chat with locals, mark them in your calendar.

Thursday in general is the weekday when many smaller shops in the region open for the first time, and so does Café Clown, a cosy small cafe directly located at the Werratal bicycle route, with a beautiful view at a branch of the Werra river with the picturesque "Tiny Venice" ("Klein-Venedig") neighbourhood (in the past the houses of the local fishermen) you can have comforting home-made food (like Pickert), coffee, cake and frozen yoghurt often made from regional, sometimes organic ingredients. The name derives from the owner's charity work as a clowndoctor. She also offers accommodation in her adjacent tiny house, restored with natural materials.

How can a bookstore survive in a once important medieval smalltown? The Buchhandlung Frühauf in Allendorf has found a way in not only adding stationery to its range of goods. This bookseller has done so by adding regional products to his assortment, both, books with a regional context, and a shelf with drinks and preserves from the region (some of them organic) and a few organic wines to go with your book. Until autumn 2023 they also sold organic bread and rolls by the organic bakery Bäckerei Schill until the baker retired without finding a successor to take over the workshop.

Oberrieden

However, there's still an organic bread bakery in Bad Sooden-Allenberg: The organically certified community-supported agricultural (CSA) collective Höhberg-Kollektiv in the village of Oberrieden (which is a part of the municipality) runs both, a dairy and a bakery in addition to a market garden and a school farm. First of all they distribute their products to their subscribers, but from Monday afternoon to Wednesday evening you can buy excess produce by leaving cash in an honesty box. How frequent you can find bread or dairy products there I cannot say.

Dietzenrode

The vicinity to the Witzenhausen department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences certainly plays a role in the comparably high density of CSAs and organic market gardens in the region. Just across the border between Hesse and Thuringia, the Gemüseinsel ("vegetable island") in Dietzenrode, half an hour by bicycle from Allendorf is the nearest one. This CSA market garden has a booth cum fridge where you can buy freshly harvested vegetables 24x7 without being a member. You pay by putting your money in an honesty box, so come with sufficient cash.

The Gemüseinsel is located on grounds formerly used by the Inselhof, a more than 30 years old organic farm, established by Witzenhausen graduates after the reunification of Germany. The farmers couple is gradually about to retire: They gave up mixed farming recently, but are continuing with a vegetable garden and fruit orchards. The latter provide ingredients for the farm's distillery. You can order their special small-scale spirits on-line or buy them from the farm shop which in summer 2024 still offered frozen and preserved meat and sausages from the last flock of animals, vegetables from the garden and apple juice from the orchard, cheeses from farmer friends and a small selection of organic bodycare. Their products are all organic, but no longer certified.

• Biotop – der rollende Bioladen, Marktstr. 20, Eschwege, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(8)–18(14)
• Reformhaus, Obermarkt 11–13, Eschwege, Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri(Wed) 9(8:30)–18,Sat 8:30–13:30
• Tegut, Bahnhofsstr. 25–27 , Eschwege, Mon–Sat 7–21
• Werragut, Auer Str. 38, Eschwege, daily 24x7
• Eden – gesund & mehr, Am Haintor, Bad Sooden, Mon–Fri(Sat) 15(10)–18(16), Sun 14–17
• Tegut, , Bad Sooden, Mon–Sat 7–21
• DM, Städtersweg 1–2, Bad Sooden, Mon–Sat 8–20
• Café Feldmann, Landgrafenstr. 5, Bad Sooden, Wed–Sun,PH 8:30–18
• Laden 41, Kirchstr. 41, Allendorf, Thu–Fri(Sat) 15(10)–18(13)
• Café Clown, Steinweg 1, Allendorf, Thu–Sun 12–18
• Buchhandlung Frühauf, Kirchstr. 77, Allendorf, Mon–Sat 8:30–13, Mon,Tue,Thu,Fri 15–18
• Solawi Höhberg-Kollektiv, Hilgershäuser Str. 20, Oberrieden, Mon 16–Wed 20
• Solawi Gemüseinsel, Kreisstr. 1, Dietzenrode, daily 24x7
• Inselhof Hofladen, Mühlpl. 18, Dietzenrode, Wed(Sat) 14(9)–18(13)

Closed or no longer organic

When the artisanal baker Schill closed his workshop in October 2023 the region lost its only organic baker. He delivered also to Café Himmelspforte, the parish café of Allendorf's Lutherian St. Crucis church, with its beautiful outdoor seating next to the "bible garden" with a display of plants mentioned in the bible. Nowadays the only organic item the café offers is one type of organic tea bags.

• Bäckerei Schill, Am Wasser 9, Frankershausen
• Café Himmelspforte, Kirchpl. 1, Allendorf, May–Sep Wed–Sun 14–19

Göttingen: Organic coffee bars and restaurants

Cities with major universities have had organic shops long before the arrival of the big organic supermarkets, and Göttingen doesn't make an exception: Probably the eldest still existing organic cafe in town is Café Inti, serving tapas, sandwiches and small dishes with a Bolivian touch to it, or at least what a students' cafe is offering as such: good and filling due to proper organic ingredients, but far from any ambition for authenticity. The "Inti-Tasche" for example isn't a corn tortilla wrap but a plain white ciabatta-type roll filled with Italian-style antipasti. Needless to say that they offer Italian-style fairly traded coffee drinks (with organic milk from a local farm if you like) and yummy cakes, and what's even better: They serve breakfast until 2pm. A welcoming place all day around if you like places with a liberal collegiate atmosphere whereof there are quite a number in the city.

At the market place Am Wochenmarkt climb the stairs up to lokal neun, a dinner restaurant using preferably organic ingredients from the region. It serves organic burgers and steaks, but also vegan dishes. A pleasant place to enjoy a summer evening on the roof terrace, but unfortunately the cocktails aren't organic. Note that the kitchen already closes at 9pm.

Theatre, comedy, concerts – the Apex near Deutsches Theater stages an interesting blend of cultural entertainment, predominantly in German. From the street the place run by a non-profit association is barely visible if you aren't aware of the address, and I was surprised to find such a spacious rustic restaurant (instead of the small theatre bar I had imagined) after passing the hallway.

The place is neither fully organic nor certified, but many ingredients come from organic farms and producers in the region. Where else would you expect to find a comforting home-made chicken soup (made from organic chicken)? On the menu of the week I was there, I also found wild boar or the yummy shashuka with organic eggs and tomatoes (which I had). In addition to the weekly changing seasonal menu there's a bunch of rustic German or Mediterranean starters and main dishes served regularly, some of them suitable for vegans. The tasty home-made white bread made from organic wheat tasted home-made rather than made by a professional artisanal baker. There's a selection of organic drinks, unfortunately none of the wines. The service (many of them seemed like students) was swift and attentive, and the guests mainly local, of a broad range of ages, my guess would be between 30 and 70.

Film enthusiasts will love the Méliès arthouse cinema inside a former Baptist church on Bürgerstraße. But whether you want to have a snack prior to the film or a simple mediterranean dinner the Bistro Cichon im Méliès is the perfect place if you like cafe bars decorated by film lovers. During the warm season you can sit in the beautiful garden – when it's raining there's also a small greenhouse to keep you dry. While the (vegetarian) food, sweets and non-alcoholic beverages are predominantly organic the selection of organic wines is surprisingly small. The focus is on snacks from the Mediterranean, tasty but not necessarily authentically spiced. Unfortunately the place – just as the "lokal neun" – does neither serve food nor coffee on Sundays and Mondays. However, also on these two days in keeps open to sell prepackaged organic sweet and savoury snacks and cold drinks before the film screenings.

Another vegetarian, vegan-friendly place is the P-Café in the backyard of St. Nikolai church. Here they are highly attentive to allergies, lactose intolerance and gluten-free diets, and wheelchair users are kindly asked to ring the bell at the main entrance facing the narrow lane part of the Nikolaikirchhof. And the best of all: it's 100 percent organic – warm and cold drinks as well as the cakes, breakfast items, salads, soups, sandwiches and wraps. The pleasantly decorated place hosts game nights (Göttingen has quite a tradition for playing board and card games in good old analogue fashion) as well as small concerts and musical sessions, readings and other cultural events. During the warm season you can sit outside, enjoying the church yard. And the best: The place keeps open on Sundays.

Coffee places

If all you want is a coffee shot head for the city's only organic coffee roasters', Contigo. This fair-trade shop not only sells colourful gifts, fashion items, jewelry, organic coffee and chocolates, but sports a beautiful cafe corner serving organic coffee drinks and refreshments. If you choose a capuccino, flat white, latte or espresso macchiato with cow or oat milk, the milk comes in returnable cans from the Naturmilchhof dairy farm about half an hour by bike away.

The farm also supplies milk to the Christian charity cafe Hope next to St. Mary's church (Sankt Marien). As of summer 2024 their window front looks a little dusty due to street construction work in front of the cafe.

The Weltladencafé fair-trade shop cum café near St. Nikolai church is less focused on handicraft. Even without an own roastery it's more café than shop, a homely-bohemian living room with outdoor seating on the footpath when the weather is nice. The place is run by a collective of volunteers, so be nice: They aren't paid to serve you. Come by for a recreational coffee break with coffee from a proper steam-driven espresso machine. Occasionally home-made cakes are being served: Since they are home-made by volunteers I wouldn't expect that they are always made from predominanly organic ingredients. Unfortunately they don't serve savoury snacks, but you may of course buy some fairly traded nuts or chips and consume them at the café.

At the main train stations of bigger German cities you will usually find a franchise serving coffee drinks made with organic milk, either a "Coffee Fellows" shop or, as in Göttingen, a branch of the organic porridge brand "Haferkater". If you have sufficient time insist on having your coffee in an earthenware cup on the spot; returnable cups for a coffee on the go unfortunately require registration with an app. The shop's comparably liberal opening hours make it a good last ressort on Sundays, early mornings or weekdays after 6pm.

• Café Inti, Burgstr. 17, daily 10–18
• lokal neun, Kurze-Geismar-Str. 9, entrance Am Wochenmarkt, Tue–Thu(Fri–Sat) 17–23(24)
• Apex, Burgstr. 46, Tue–Sat 17:30–24
• Bistro Cichon im Méliès, Bürgerstr. 13, Tue–Sat 17:30–21, in August 18–20
• P-Café, Nikolaikirchhof 11, Tue,Wed,Sun(Thu–Sat) 10–18(22)
• Contigo, Lange-Geismar-Str. 51, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–18:30(18)
• Weltladencafé, Nikolaistr. 10, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Hope, Groner-Tor-Str. 29a, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9(10)–17:30(18)
• Haferkater, Bahnhofspl. 1, Mon–Fri(Sat–Sun) 6(8)–20

Closed

• Dabis Kaffeestube, Rote Str. 39 (coffee house)

Kassel: Sustainable, organic and eco fashion

When I visited Kassel I didn't intend to shop clothes, so I did not do any upfront research in this direction. But then I passed two well-assorted organic fashion boutiques and decided to assemble a small post well aware of that there are most certainly more sustainable fashion shops in town which I do great injustice to by not mentioning them here.

The first one is Timeless, originally a skater's shop turned into an organic and fair streetware boutique offering a great selection of jeans and casual clothing for all sexes as well as a small assortment of hip, bike and travel bags and shoes. The predecessor of "Timeless" on this location was the sister branch of the "Fresh Lollipop" store in Göttingen.

Fresh Lollipop's current location is just a few corners away and offers more versatile styles. In addition to clothing you also find sustainably and fairly produced fashion accessories from scarfs to bags.

• Fresh Lollipop, Neue Fahrt 2, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Timeless, Wolfsschlucht 13, Mon–Sat 10–19

Kassel: Organic ice-cream

Kassel is a city consisting of many straight and very long avenues. One of them, the Wilhelmshöher Allee, connects the inner city with the train station Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe serving long distance connections, and Europe's largest hillsite park and UNESCO World Heritage site Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe with its impressive baroque monuments. Your way there is sweetened by two organic ice-cream parlours.

Vegans should stop at Frohnatur, a young and dedicated vegan organically certified ice-cream parlour. The flavours are made from a variety of plant-based drinks, supporting the name-giving flavouring ingredient. My favourite is pumpkin seed while less fatty, more subtle flavours such as tonka are missing a round and creamy note. All ice-cream flavours are served made into "spaghetti" or in classic German ball shape, according to your liking, and there's a sundae menu (among others sporting a popcorn sundae). You can get a proper Italian coffee drink and have waffles or a home-made cake. The wafer cones are also home-made, and small pieces are being served with your espresso.

If you like the classical West-German Italian ice-cream parlour with its greasy sundae menu and the brownish-red plastic-coated cushion seats (to name only a few prejudices) a visit to Eiscafé Cortina is a must. You probably wouldn't expect such a place to be 100 percent organic, but here you are, and if you have a fancy for less common flavours in an ice-cream cone on the go it takes a while to make a decision. Traditionalists, rest assured: you'll also find standard flavours, and most organic supermarkets in town and in the vicinity stock pre-packaged Cortina ice-cream in standard flavours. Needless to say that this ice-cream parlour is also a gorgeous place for the classical Italian coffee espresso shot.

• Frohnatur, Wilhelmshöher Allee 18, daily 12–19 (warm season), Thu–Tue 12–18 (autumn season starting mid of September), Thu–Sun 12–18 (cold season as of March 2024)
• Eiscafé Cortina, Wilhelmshöher Allee 134, daily 10–22

Göttingen: Sustainable, organic and eco fashion

I may be biased but I find it easier to spot sustainable fashion boutiques in smaller cities with a university than elsewhere, and Göttingen is no exception.

It's the only West-German city with a branch of the colourful Mrs. Hippie chain (the other branches are in Dresden, Erfurt, Leipzig and Magdeburg). As the name suggests, colourful loose-fitting comfort fashion made from fibres of natural origin dominates the shop. The prices here are moderate, but to be affordable for smaller purses the shop makes compromises: While fabrics made from organic cotton or linen are available, there's also a lot of viscose (usually not made with the eco-friendly lyocell process). Recyclability (which would require mono-materials) is not in the focus (many pieces contain rayon/elastane), but sustainable production, preferably in Europe, definitely is.

If sustainable brands are important to you, you'll find a lot of both, established and less known brands at Fresh Lollipop. All pieces here are fairly produced, both, with respect to the working conditions of the growers of natural fibres, the producers of the fabrics and the textile workers. The fabrics are either mono-materials, recycled and/or certified organic, to work into the direction of cradle-to-cradle processes. In the few cases where polymere mono-materials are used in washable textiles, only new PE and nylon is used to minimise microplastics abrasion in the washing machine. Apart from clothes and shoes for all sexes, bags, rucksacks and other accessories are being sold on two floors. There's a second shop in Kassel.

For organic clothes for babies, toddlers and younger children simply cross the street where you find Sperling Mode & Natur. The crammed, yet cosy shop has a long history: It was established in 1983. It also sells a small selection for women and uni-sex accessories. If you come with smaller kids, there's a small table where they can draw and colour.

Whether you are generally prefering long-lasting artisanal (and as a consequence more expensive) clothing made from natural materials of highest quality or simply like to spend time in a carefully curated boutique for the distinguished bourgeois, take a break at Woggon. Clothes, shoes, bags and other accessories are beautifully presented in a wood-and-brick showroom with a beautiful staircase, everything nicely arranged with carefully choosen details: a book here, a typewriter there. The service is impeccable, and as another customer exclaimed: "It's difficult not to buy a nice thing here." The shop also serves as a beautiful venue for concerts and readings.

Long-lasting clothes from natural fibres, often organic and often made from mono-materials can be found at the outlet of the Freiburg-based sustainable web and post order shop Waschbär – at least until October, 31st 2024 when the shop is going to be closed.

Fairly traded accessories and jewellery of beautiful and long lasting quality can also be obtained from the Contigo fair trade boutique.

• Mrs. Hippie, Zindelstr. 8, Mon–Fri(Sat) 10–19(18)
• Fresh_Lollipop, Rote Str. 12, Mon–Sat 10–18
• Sperling Mode & Natur, Rote Str. 30, Mon–Sat 10:30–18
• Woggon, Barfüßerstr. 1, Mon–Fri(Sat) 9:30–19(18)