Fünfschilling

We had a quiet time of things this Easter, but one of the highlights was a bike trip into the nearby German countryside in the early evening of Good Friday. Our destinaton was the village of Fischingen, where we had a meal and some wine at the Fünfschilling.

As far as I know, the Fünfschilling began life as a Straussi (as they say in the local dialect) which, strictly speaking, denotes a farm or other agricultural business permitted to sell its own produce and operate as a restaurant or bar at certain times of the year. The Markgräflerland region is full of them and all the better for it. However, this particular Straussi in Fischingen is a sizeable business open all year round. Apart from a restaurant area, it has a farmer's shop selling an array of organic fruit and veg as well as wine from the in-house winery, gourmet produce, confectionery and more besides. Fünfschilling produce is also sold every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning at the local market in Lörrach.

It is a huge operation - and hugely popular at that. Almost too popular, I would say, though that must be a good sign.

Pictured is the "alternative" facade of the winery building. Why do graffiti artists write like that? Maybe I'm naive, but surely they'd want people to understand what they mean.