Witzenhausen: Organic restaurants, cafes and beergardens

What about a stroll to the banks of the Werra river, a chat with a glass in your hand, a coffee break with gorgeous cake, ice-cream or a savoury snack? Chez Nadine is a relaxed camp consisting of two wooden site waggons serving as kitchen and coffee/bar and two large awnings providing shadow and rain protection for beer benches and tables. A popular and relaxed meeting spot where it's easy to mix with locals while having organic food and drinks – try the local organic beer with a perfectly thin Flammkuchen (the Alsatian alternative to pizza) available both, as vegetarian, vegan and omnivore versions.

However, the beautiful open-air cafe is in danger: The federal state of Hesse has been planning a new massive concrete bridge for goods trailers here, and although this bridge will destroy the waterside lawn and increase noise and exhaust pollution for the citizens living in this touristic town local authorities do not object as alternative, sustainable traffic solutions would have to be paid for by the municipality itself. Local climate and environmental organisations are lobbying for the re-activation of a former train line for the goods transport. Let's hope for the best.

Not only on bad weather days or during the cold season there's a welcoming alternative, the art cafe Bistro Ringelnatz in the inner city, which also sports outdoor seating in a garden in the backyard. All food and drinks are organic, often with biodynamic ingredients grown in the vicinity. During the semester break in summer opening hours are quite restricted, but my guess is that the place is going to open on evenings when the students of the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences are back in town, together with concerts readings and exhibitions. The department is the reason for a high density of organic farms and market gardens in the region which provide produce for the Ringelnatz kitchen. This is also the reason why the changing hearty vegetable soups come at an unbeatable low price: Already the small serving is sufficient provided you do not come very hungry.

The cafe's name is taken after German painter-author Joachim Ringelnatz famous for his intelligent satirical nonsense poetry, and it is said that the patron is occationally reciting poems for his guests. If he isn't you may get a poem from the poetry generator in the corner (provided you have a 50 cents coin at hand).

For an organic soft or coffee drink you may also visit Haases Garten-Café, a beautiful garden cafe in the backyard of the Haase household equipment and cocooning shop. The cafe is open when you find a stand-up display on the walkway in front. To enter the cafe you have to pass through the shop. Unfortunately the home-made cake isn't necessarily made from organic ingredients.

If you are lucky enough to arrive during the opening hours of the Röstwerk coffee roasters' use the chance to have a freshly roasted organic coffee. As I had no such luck I wasn't able to ask about the non-certified coffee and the milk.

With its strong focus on regional and organic produce Schinkels Brauhaus, the beergarden of the local organically certified brewery, is the perfect place for beer, meat and burger lovers with a conscience. Organic poultry from Frischgeflügel Roth, beef from the Gut Fahrenbach's cattle fed on Schinkels' draff, cheese, milk (used in the ice-cream of the Griesel dairy farm), and nonetheless the beer made with local organic barley are all produced within a 50 kilometres radius. Unfortunately the vegetarian dishes (with a notable exception of the asparges from the Klenke farm in Bad Sooden-Allendorf during the season) do not have organic main components. As most breweries nowadays they also make lemonades dubbed "WIZ" which are organically certified. There's indoor seating, too, important during the cold season.

• Chez Nadine, An der Schlagd/Bleichengasse, Mon–Sat(Sun) 12(10)–21
• Bio‐Bistro Ringelnatz, Steinstr. 12, Wed–Sat 12–17
• Haases Garten-Café, Walburger Str. 3 (backyard), Mon–Thu(Fri) 9(8:30)–18, Sa 9–14
• Röstwerk, Am Markt 11, Mon–Wed(Fri) 08:30(8)–17, Sat 9–13
• Schinkels Brauhaus, Oberburgstr. 10, Mon–Sat(Sun) 17(12)–22(21), Sat 12–15

More to try

At a significant distance from the town the village of Berlepsch-Ellerode also belongs to Witzenhausen. Here you'll find the Cafe Hofgarten Gut Hübenthal, an organic farm cafe and probably also shop as the farm is the homebase of the organic delivery service Grüner Bote.

• Cafe Hofgarten Hübenthal, Hübenthal 9, Berlepsch-Ellerode, Fri–Sun 13–19

Witzenhausen: Organic groceries, supermarkets and delicatessen

As almost all West-German small towns with an intact historic centre Witzen­hau­sen has both, a health food shop in the tradition of the Lebensreform movement at the beginning of the 20th century (the Reformhaus "Schön und gesund"), and a Weltladen fair-trade shop driven by volunteers.

But there's also a traditional organic corner shop offering all you need for food, household, hygiene and recreational treats: the Schach­tel­halm (German for "horsetail", the plant). Unfortunately I arrived too late a Saturday to catch more than a glimpse from the outside.

The local brewery, Schinkel, a start-up of the university milieu, was Hesse's first organic brewery, but to date only a few of their beers are certified organic. You can get (and taste) them at the brewery's own salespoint, Schinkels Biershop.

Unterrieden

If you come to Witzenhausen on the Werratalradweg from Bad Sooden-Allendorf the bicycle route is running through the village Unterrieden, a part of Witzenhausen on the Eastern side of the river Werra right before the river turns to the West. On the main road through Unterrieden, the Ludwigsteinstraße, you'll find no less than three farm shops, described here from South to North.

The farm shop of the Absatz­ge­nos­sen­schaft Unter­rieden (AGU), a co-operative of both, organic and conventional farms in the village famous for its cherries, offers a wide range of locally produced food and beverages: fresh greens, sausages, cheese, bread, honey, preserves, fruit juices, wines and spirits. Only a fraction of it is organically certified, and unfortunately you cannot tell how much inorganic fertilisers and poisonous pest control has been used to produce products missing a certificate. When I asked about bread and rolls the shop keeper told me that the bakery had been organic in the past, but since the baker retired the products have been coming from the only remaining artisanal bakery in town. Some of the (fruit) wines and honey definitely sport the European organic label.

The AGU shop also stocks organic jams and spreads of Knofi & so ("garlic and such") in very small glasses, perfect as a small gift. The label belongs to a community of passionate market gardeners with a focus on direct trade. They are operating a small manufactory and market boothes. The one in Ludwigsteinstraße is unmanned, with an honesty box to put your money in. When I was there in August there were lovely tomatoes, but when I returned in September the booth was temporarily put down, so I suspect it is there only when excess greens are available. The "Knofis" also offer basic guest rooms for cyclists and backpackers.

Poultry lovers must not miss the poultry butcher's shop Frischgeflügel Roth. Unfortunately the shop is open only two days a week and was on vacation when I was there, so the vending machine in front of the shop was empty, too. The butcher co-operates with almost all organic poultry farms in the region.

• Reformhaus "Schön und gesund" Walger, Walburger Str. 8, Mon–Thu 9–13,15–18, Fr(Sat) 9–18(13)
• Weltladen, Brückenstr. 16, Mon–Sat 10–13, Mon,Wed,Fri(Tue,Thu) 15–18(19)
• Schachtelhalm, Walburger Straße 19, Mon–Wed,Sat(Thu–Fri) 9–13(18), Mon–Wed 14:30–18
• Schinkels Biershop, Am Sande 9, Mon–Fri 8:30–15, every first Wed/month 17–20
• AGU-Hofladen, Ludwigsteinstr. 6, Unterrieden, Tue–Fri(Sat) 8(7)–12, Tue–Fri 15–18
• Knofi & so, Ludwigsteinstr. 32, Unterrieden, daily 24x7 during the main harvest
• Bioland Frischgeflügel Roth, Ludwigsteinstr. 40, Unterrieden, Fri(Sat) 10(9)–18(13)

Organic Eschwege and Bad Sooden-Allendorf

• Eschwege
• Bad Sooden-Allendorf
• Dietzenrode

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 necessities, 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 alongside with 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 rolls 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 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). Here you can have comforting home-made cake (including the filling Westphalian Pickert, a sweet potato cake), coffee, and frozen yoghurt often made from regional, sometimes organic ingredients. Tea, milk and eple juice are generally organic, and if not asked specify that you want the organic variety of sugar beet syrup on your Pickert.

The cafe's name derives from the owner's charity work as a clowndoctor. Her partner is an architect and urban planner who has been planning and conducting social house and neighbourhood building projects with natural materials for decades. The two also offer accommodation in their adjacent tiny house, carefully restored with natural materials and equipped with a rain shower. Ring them for booking even though you find the place on AirBnB.

How can a bookstore survive in a once important medieval smalltown? The Buchhandlung Frühauf in Allendorf has found a way by offering more than books and stationery: The bookseller added 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 is the one closest to Allendorf, about half an hour by bicycle. 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 also delivered 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

Witzenhausen

Historically important small towns, even when they sport an abundance of beautiful historic building, often struggle with the loss of importance compared with the big cities. An exception are small historic towns with a university (and a train station), where you'll often find a thriving cultural life. Witzenhausen is one of the latter: Located on the regional train line from Kassel to Göttingen it is the home of the Department of Ecological Agricultural Sciences of the University of Kassel and as such the smallest university location. It's also part of the bicycle route along the river Werra, the Werratalradweg. The town prides itself of being both, organic pioneer and a Fair Trade Town.

If you are interested in tropical plants and how pests can be efficiently controlled using natural and minimally invasive means, pay a visit to the Greenhouse for Tropical Crops run by the Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences.

• Daily necessities: Supermarkets, groceries and speciality shops
• Restaurants, cafes and beergardens

Germany: Göttingen

The university town of Göttingen can easily be reached by ICE (and IC) long distance trains, and is a wonderful start (or end) point for many bike routes. One of them is the bike route "Dransfelder Rampe" connecting Göttingen and Hannoversch Münden – in the past by train, now by bicycle. Hann. Münden again is the start/end point of the Werratalradweg along the river Werra. When you exit the Göttingen Hauptbahnhof via the main entrance in direction city centre you'll find a sgn post pointing to "Radfernwege" at the left hand side of the forecourt, guiding you into the direction of the long distance bike routes.

• Zero waste, groceries and tea shops
• Cafes and restaurants
• Ice-cream
• Fashion