Bratwurst News

A Happy New Year also among those bratwurst vendors at Freiburg's Münster market? Not for all; for two of them, it is over. They must close shop, sorry, their stands on March 31, 2017.

Five bratwurst stands are located on the south side of the Münster church.
The other three are on the north side (©BZ/Schneider)

In the good old days, up to eight stands, five on the south side and three on the north side of the Münster church, offered Freiburger Lange Rote (long red-colored bratwurst) and other brats to go. The stands rotated, so sometimes a vendor had to sell his bratwurst in an unloved spot on the north side of the Münster church, but he was sure to return to the sunny side of the business and the Münster market the next day. 

There was no real competition; all vendors asked the same price for their Lange Rote with or without steamed onions, and they all used the Deppenapostroph, e.g., Uhl's Wurststand. From April 1, 2017, Uhl and Hauber will no longer be present as the traditional vendors.

Hauber's Grillwürste.
Note the handwritten note in the background asking for supporting signatures.

In 2011, Freiburg eventually applied European law requiring public vendor licenses to be renewed in a five-year cycle. In principle, an invitation to tender must be sent out across Europe. In a first go five years ago, the FWTM (Freiburg Economy-Touristic-Fair office) decided to allow one veggie stand selling tofu wurst. 

From this year on, the food-to-go offerings will be further diversified. While the veggie stand remains, the number of bratwurst stands will be reduced to five. One new vendor will offer the rather popular Fischbrötchen (fish buns), and last but not least, the eighth stand will specialize in Black Forest products.

Before Christmas, all tenders for the five remaining bratwurst stands were in, with vendors Uhl and Hauber failing. A storm broke loose. The Badische Zeitung received hundreds of angry letters to the editor; people launched petitions and circulated signature lists to support the two "losers." The most reasonable letter to the editor I read said, "Five bratwurst-selling stands are sufficient."

Red Baron was relatively neutral in this quarrel until he discovered the best invention made since the birth of the Lange Rote. How often have you been frustrated eating a bun instead of a bratwurst? While the two ends are sticking out, you start eating the sausage until you are left with the rest of the bratwurst hidden in the bun. What a sad ending!

The Lange Rote in a bun at Meier's Wurststand

When walking around the Münster market the other day, I saw a man enjoying his Lange Rote embedded in half a baguette. I asked the guy, "Where did you get that?" At Hauber's was his snappy answer.

The bratwurst "hang-over" is smaller in a baguette than in a bun.
I took the photo of my Lange Rote in portrait mode with my iPhone 7 Plus.
Hauber's also traditionally sells bratwurst in buns, visible in the background.

Although I rarely eat a Münster brat, I hurried to try the ideal geometrical combination: a Lange Rote and a baguette. Believe me, it is a whole new way of enjoying your bratwurst. 

Boy, a baguette is crusty compared to a soft bun, and you eat bratwurst and baguette at the same time. As a bonus, you get more steamed onions in the baguette's longish bed.

My only egoistic conclusion: Hauber's Grillwurst stand must remain.

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