Another Day in the Life of Altefritzenburg

Townspeople gather at the Gasthaus Alter Fritz to hear the latest news and quaff a few of Herr Otto Schmidt's fine lagers. The Reverand Bockwinkel lectures some of the townspeople about the dangers of spending too much time at Herr Schmidt's establishment. At the right front is Herr Birckenbeil's shoe shop.

The population of the town of Altefritzenburg has grown from eleven to thirty one over the past week. This of course does not include the Prussians who have taken up quarters to the north of the town. I have a few more citizens in the painting queue, getting ready to join the town.

I thought it would be nice to set up some photos of the everyday life in Altefritzenburg. Not everything is military oriented in this part of the world. Nevertheless, the town burgers are more than a little bit anxious about the proximity of the Prussian encampment to the town. The Burgermeister, Herr Munchausen, has been seen at the camp toadying up to the King. More on that later.

Read the picture captions to get a flavor of life in an 18th Century town in Germany. And don't forget to click on each picture to enlarge the view. Those readers who are really computer savy will know that if they double click, the picture will be even larger.

Tradesmen's wagons rumble down the Main Street daily to deliver their goods to the town.

It looks like an important visitor is arriving in a fine looking coach. The driver receives a salute from the town guard. A pair of agricultural workers pay no heed to the comings and goings on the street. They have too much work to do.

A view of one of the back streets from the coach's perspective. The Prussians have set up sentry boxes at every road into town to keep tabs on the traffic and to make sure that none of those rascally Croats sneeks into town.

A young girl and her mother stand outside their home to see what is going on. Stefan, riding atop the wagon, and his father bring a wagonload of ale casks destined for the Gasthaus Alter Fritz.

The citizens draw their water from the town well. Everyone shares in Altefritzenburg.

The Blacksmith's shop is located down one of the side streets where the sound of the clanging anvil and the neighing of the horses will not disturb the townspeople. A young lad brings some horses from the Prussian camp to get reshod.

I would like to work on a livery stable model to add to the town, placing it next to the blacksmith's shop.

West of the town, a crew of laborers load bags of flour from the nearby windmill. They plan on selling the flour to the bakers in the Prussian camp outside of town.

A view of the town commons where any citizen may bring his livestock for grazing.

 I am still looking for a source of metal 28mm cattle and other livestock. I think that Hovels makes them, but I am not sure that Hovels is still in business. I envision a herd of cows being herded through the town very early in the morning, before everyone else is awake. I had this experience at Oberamergau in Bavaria many years ago.