Germany’s pioneer ‘edible city’ on the Rhine
Andernach’s city center has fruit and vegetable gardens that anyone can harvest for free. By making edible plants a feature of public space, this town is trying to change the way locals think about their food.
Edited by: Tamsin Walker
DW
Sept 2, 2022
Excerpt:
Beneath Andernach’s medieval city walls, birds flit among apple, pear and peach trees. Strawberry plants and heads of lettuce sprout from the soil alongside patches of herbs and wildflowers.
Founded more than 2,000 years ago, this settlement in the Rhine River valley is one of the oldest towns in Germany. Its city walls have survived, along with the ruins of a moated castle dating back to the 12th century. It’s also home to the highest cold-water geyser in the world, a big tourist draw. But today, visitors have another reason to come to Andernach — its city gardens.
“If you feel like picking something for dinner, feel free,” said Anneli Karlsson, the project coordinator of the Edible Cities Network in Andernach. “That’s our motto: Feel free to pick.”
Andernach, with a population of around 30,000 people, is known as an “edible city.” That means many of its public green spaces are used to grow food that anyone can harvest free of charge.
The city’s administration launched the project in 2010. The idea was to get locals more engaged in their community and raise awareness about how food is grown.
“You don’t feel such a relationship to a tulip or a rose, as you do to maybe a salad that you’re going to pick tomorrow for your own dinner,” said Karlsson.
