Bratwurst News

A Happy New Year also among those bratwurst vendors on Freiburg's Münster market? Not for all; for two of them, it is over. They must close shops, sorry, 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, a maximum of eight stands, with five situated on the south and three on the north side of the Münster church, offered their Freiburger Lange Rote (long red-colored bratwurst) and other types of brats-to-go. The stands rotated, so sometimes a vendor had to sell his bratwurst at an unloved location on the north side of the Münster church, being sure to return to the sunny side of the business and the Münster market the next day. There was no real competition for 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 that licenses for public vendors must be renewed in a five-year cycle. In principle, an invitation to tender has to be sent out Europe-wide. 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 foods-to-go offered shall be further diversified. While the veggie stand remains, the number of stands that sell bratwurst 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, petitions were launched, and signature lists were circulated 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 were you frustrated eating a bun rather than 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 traditionally also 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, how crusty a baguette is compared to a soft bun; you eat both bratwurst and baguette simultaneously. As a bonus, you get more steamed onions in the longish bed of a baguette.

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

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