Mixed messages in Ostfildern
I whine about Ostfildern’s apparent resistance to cycle infrastructure plenty, but I will say this for them: they’ve made sure that there’s a comprehensive network of signs for cyclists. Using these you can generally navigate your way anywhere you want to go, mostly avoiding busy roads. Of course, because I live in Ostfildern I already know my way around (and importantly, when to ignore the signs) so they are of limited use. Whereas when I need signs, like I did in Bempflingen* last week, there aren’t any.
Actually that’s not entirely true: there were a few signs in Bempflingen: it seems that the policy was to save money by only putting in every second sign, or possibly by only ordering signs pointing to the right. The village had also made them marginally larger than a postage stamp, and placed them on existing signposts, after first ensuring that these were properly hidden behind a bush or a house.
As a result I had a lot of opportunity to get to know Bempflingen rather well, and I can report that it’s an attractive village with a pleasant church and a very nice mill with a water wheel, which I was able to view from several different angles. Unfortunately I was trying to find the way to Bad Urach and back, a round trip of 100km, so it was not the best time to be on a magical mystery tour of the local dead ends, all of which had a clear view of the next village, but no way of getting there.
So there’s something Ostfildern have done right. I am happy to set the record straight. Now if they could possibly move along a bit with actually surfacing the cycle ways and making it possible to ride in the town centre without the feeling we will be flattened by a large truck, that would be even better. Thank you.
I’ll bore you further with the trip to Bad Urach another time.
*And who decided that ‘Bempflingen’ would be a snappy name for a village? and did this person have any connection to the person who decreed that the first road I crossed would be called ‘Klarwerkstrasse’: ‘sewage works street’?
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November 20, 2010 at 7:46 am
Brent
I had pretty good success with the bicycle signs I encountered across northern Germany during an October tour. They were certainly superior to the Danish signs, and were everywhere I needed. But a few times I had to scratch my head to figure out whether the arrows meant turning or going straight. I had more than one ‘scenic detour’ as a result.
November 20, 2010 at 6:08 pm
Andy in Germany
Hi Brent thanks for the comment… Where did you ride? I had similar experiences in northern Germany, although I well remember a ‘short cut’ on the Rhine cycle route that was more of a ‘scenic detour’ as well. Northern Germany is (sweeping generalisation here) ‘usually’ a bit better than the south. Partly because it’s flatter, but I suspect it’s also because the north isn’t dominated by car companies: most of the bog ones are in Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg. We have three in Stuttgart alone.
November 24, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Brent
Hi Andy…thanks for the reply. I didn’t see it until just now.
My route took me … well, how about a map:
http://tinyurl.com/346vxl2
I thought the Germany infrastructure in general was much better than the Danish, with the Dutch being best of all. I don’t know anything at all, however, about paths in the south of Germany.
November 24, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Brent
Or, maybe a map that works:
http://tinyurl.com/35gzydb
…except, for some reason, I can’t get Google to route from Rodbyhavn to Fehmarn; that big detour to Rostock never happened.
November 26, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Andy in Germany
Hi Brent, thanks for the map… that looks like a very nice run, and those areas of Germany are a lot more cycle friendly than Stuttgart. I’m goad you enjoyed yourself here…
November 20, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Frits B
Re Bempflingen: there are a number of towns in Holland that still have a Gasfabriekstraat = gasworks street. The fabriek isn’t there anymore as those were dismantled after we installed a nationwide network for natural gas but the name still stands. No stranger, in fact, than Church Street.
I see the Bempflinger Rathaus contains a Kämmerei (which is where they count the municipal beans – nothing to do with wool). Nice regional word.
November 20, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Andy in Germany
Hi Frits, thanks for dropping by… We have ‘Gasworks street’ in the UK as well We also have lot of towns in the UK with a ‘Station Road’ as well: I can understand that: a town would want to show of its ‘modernity’ in having a Gas works, and ‘Station Road’ is useful for people looking foir the station, but how many people are desperate to visit the sewage works? Or is a visit to a sewage works considered a form of entertainment in some places? I think we should be told.
RE: Kämmerei: I suspect its part of the Swabian dialect: it’s remarkable how that hasn’t just survived but ias still strong enough that people moving into the area need translation.
November 21, 2010 at 2:26 am
Simon
“Klärwerkstraße? Easy to find, just turn left at Breitarschweg!”
November 22, 2010 at 7:06 pm
Andy in Germany
And in Baden-Baden as well, I bet the locals don’t talk about that much…
November 20, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Zweiradler
Your description of Bempflingen is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.
Nico
November 20, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Andy in Germany
Thanks Nico. I’m always a bit apprehensive how my ‘funny’ pieces will be received, so it’s good to know someone likes them…
November 20, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Frits B
Look at it this way: streets were simply named after the main occupant. So why not call the street leading to the sewage plant the Klärwerkstrasse? Level-headed people, those Swabians …
November 20, 2010 at 10:21 pm
Andy in Germany
Aha, in that context I see your point. I’m not sure if I’d want my house address to show that though…
November 22, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Frits B
You’re too sensitive. Be glad not to live at Zandpad in Utrecht:
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2010/10/bicycles-in-red-light-district-in.html
November 22, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Andy in Germany
Eww… point taken…
December 11, 2010 at 7:17 am
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