Freiburg, Marketplace

(3 photos)

An outdoor food market and the Floh Markt (flea market) are held regularly in the Münsterplatz. This colorful and fascinating scene, with mingled fragrances and aromas, has remained virtually unchanged throughout the centuries.

The buildings around the Münsterplatz (Cathedral place) are used for both ecclesiastical and civic purposes. On the left, the beautiful Münster (cathedral) was consecrated in 1513. The palace for the archbishop, the mansion of the painter and sculptor Christian Wenzinger, and most noticeably, the Kaufhof (department store), a red Gothic building built in 1532 all give a medieval look to the square. This building now contains municipal reception halls and staterooms.
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Here at the Münsterplatz, you can see that at this Cathedral, as at most, gargoyles have been used as ornaments, and as drain spouts to move rainwater away from Freiburg’s Münster (Cathedral). The builder also used them to make a political statement. On the south side of the building, several of the gargoyles are using both hands and feet to hang on to the side of Freiburg’s Münster, with their bare fannies pointing toward city hall.
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We especially remember buying bunches of large red radishes — and by large, we mean the size of a small peach. They were solid, and had an extra good flavor.

During another visit we looked for more radishes in this marketplace and were told they did not have any “this year.” Once we were able to buy the large radishes in Tübingen, and one year we found some in a marketplace in downtown München (Munich). We haven’t seen them in any country except Germany, and don’t know if they are a certain variety, or if the size is a result of a specific growing environment that occurs only certain years.