Sabine I. with her royal household in the town hall on Monday, where she will rule until Ash Wednesday. Also in the photo are treasurer Thorsten Schorr and Mayor Hans-Georg Brum. (Photo: Stadt Oberursel)
It’s carnival time!
February 2, 2013 By
The carnival season in Oberursel got into full swing on Saturday morning to shouts of “Hellau!” when Princess Sabine I., accompanied by supporters, majorettes, musicians and couple of canons, made her way from the old town hall around the Marktplatz and through the town to the new town hall, where she challenged the mayor to hand over the keys and put her in charge of things until Ash Wednesday.
However the mayor, Hans-Georg Brum, and his associates were not giving up without a fight, especially to the first ever carnival Princess that the town has seen. From over the parapet of his fortress he gave as good as he got, and even sent out his own canon – filled with confetti.
Sabine was assisted by the Pascal and Leoni, the “Kinderprinzenpaar”, the latter of whom had particular fun telling her uncle “Hansi” to surrender.
And surrender he did, but not before [Read more…]
Lost property (December 2012 and January 2013)
February 1, 2013 By
The lost property office (Fundbüro) in Oberursel’s town hall has released a list of items that have been handed in during December and January.
You can browse the list (in German) by clicking here.
Amongst the latest finds are three ID cards, seven bicycles, two pairs of glasses, two digital cameras, three purses, two rings, various items of clothing, two rucksacks, 19 keys, an ipod and a figure from a Christmas crib.
They can be collected at the Rathaus in room 101A within 6 months of them being handed in. For more information call 06171 502-371 or -262.
Kiosk petition fails to collect enough signatures for a referendum
January 18, 2013 By
A petition to hold a referendum on the future of the kiosk at Oberursel’s main station has failed to collect the required number of signatures. The kiosk had closed in the middle of December and was removed early in the new year.
The “Bürgerbegehren” required 10% of those living in the town and eligible to vote to sign with their full name, address and date of birth. The deadline ran out yesterday: Thursday, 17th January, 2013, when one of the organisers of the petition, Angela Stohrer, submitted the 189 pages to the town hall. It was 8 weeks to the day since the town council had rejected a motion by Ingmar Schlegel of “die Linke” to stop the kiosk’s closure.
However, many of those who had downloaded the petition from the internet and printed it off had often not filled out all of the columns on the form, especially the date of birth, making their voting status difficult to confirm for the town hall and thus invalid. [Read more…]
Carollers at the town hall
January 6, 2013 By
Carol singers in German do not go from house to house before Christmas eve, they do it afterwards instead – specifically between 27th December and 6th January.
During this time, the so-called “Sternsinger”, organised by the local church and who are sometimes translated as “star boys”, go from house to house to collect for a particular good cause using the year’s motto and dressed as the Three Kings.
This year the motto is “Segen bringen – Segen sein!” (bring a blessing – be a blessing!) and the money raised will go to help children worldwide, in particular in Tanzania. With the whole country taking part, it is not unusual to raise over €40 million.
Before they leave they write 20*C+M+B+13 on the door frame, the letters standing for “Christus mansionem benedicat”, or “God protect this house”. [Read more…]
All town institutions closed this afternoon
December 5, 2012 By
The town hall, the recycling centre, and all other town institutions will be closed this afternoon (Wednesday, 5th December), from 1.30pm onwards due to a meeting involving all of the town’s staff (“Personalversammlung”).
Opinion: how not to save the kiosk
November 27, 2012 By
The kiosk at the station will close in just over three weeks, ending a 100 year tradition of having a kiosk at that location. Even a last minute attempt to save it at the town council has failed.
Can anything still be done? Well, there are plans to hold a vigil at the kiosk every Friday evening until it closes. And there is still the matter of 1,400 signatures on a petition, but this has yet to be handed in to the town hall.
So when I was invited to a press appointment yesterday with the kiosk’s operator and the mayor (although admittedly not by either of them directly) I expected either to be told something new, such as a new solution for the bus drivers’ problem or a new location for the kiosk, or simply a photo appointment to hand over the petition.
As it turned out, neither was the case. The appointment between them turned out to be a discussion, a sort of “setting the facts straight” affair. Worse still, no-one had bothered to inform either the town hall or the mayor that the press had been invited.
In my opinion, that is not the way to deal with either the people in the town hall who you are hoping will help you stop your business closing next month, nor with the local press who you hope will be reporting on it.
I left the meeting to attend another appointment after the first hour, and – regardless of any personal opinion that I may have about the kiosk situation – took a conscious decision not to report on the details of what had been discussed. As yet, I have not found any articles from the newspaper reporters who were present in their on-line editions either, so maybe they came to the same conclusion as well.
Car park next to the town hall closed at the weekend
November 8, 2012 By
Due to the “Martinsmarket” taking place on 10th and 11th November, 2012, the car park next to the town hall (Rathaus) will be closed on these days.
Lost property (June and July 2012)
August 2, 2012 By
The lost property office (Fundbüro) in Oberursel’s town hall has released a list of items that have been handed in during June and July.
You can browse the list (in German) by clicking here.
Amongst the latest finds are eight ID cards, seven bicycles, a cycle helmet, a digital camera, four purses, three mobile phones, a Blackberry, two MP3 players, a ring, 16 keys and keyrings, a brooch, a bracelet, two watches and various items of clothing.
They can be collected at the Rathaus in room 101A within 6 months of them being handed in. For more information call 06171 502-371 or -262.
Lost property (April and May 2012)
July 6, 2012 By
The lost property office (Fundbüro) in Oberursel’s town hall has released a list of items that have been handed in during April and May.
You can browse the list (in German) by clicking here.
Amongst the latest finds are an ID card, two pairs of glasses, nine bicycles, three purses, four mobile phones, a tablet computer, an umbrella, a hearing aid, a golf bag, and two iPods.
They can be collected at the Rathaus in room 101A within 6 months of them being handed in. For more information call 06171 502-371 or -262.
