Kandern, Germany

Kandern is a lovely small town, located in the very SW corner of Germany. Driving, it is just 20 minutes from Basel, Switzerland, and also 20 minutes from the border with France.

Kandern's Most Famous Citizen:

That title must go to a young fellar named Johann Sutter. Why? Because one morning, ol' Johann woke up and he says to himself, "Self, I think I will leave Kandern. I think I will go to that thar New World and make a life for myself there." And then he asks himself, "What will you do there?" And he comes right back with the answer: "I will set myself up a humble job in wood processing." (Being from the Black Forest, he figured he could do OK with that.) But then he adds this -- and here's the clincher -- he says to himself, he says, "BUuuut-- that whole wood processing thing is really just gonna be a front operation for the real deal. Really what I'll do is find me some gold and start the Californ-i-a Gold Rush and change history." And so that's just what he did.

Click the image to see what it looks like in downtown Kandern, really really really late at night on a snowy December 29:

September 17-20 was the big Budefescht here in Kandern. A not-altogether-wholesome town fair.

September 25-26 was the annual pottery fair. It also coincides (coincidentally or not, I don't know) with the 100th birthday of the local steam engine train. Which tends to imply that steam engine trains are at least 60 years older than Curt!