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P. 60
Once
Upon a Time
in Hameln
Annual National
Meeting and Exhibition
of Bonsai-Club Germany
and the German Suiseki Society
By Gudrun Benz, Germany
Photos by Gudrun Benz
ameln (Hamelin) is a small town of 59,000 inhabitants in northern
Germany. It is located on the small upper Weser River and is synonymous
with the world-famous 19th century tale of the Rattenfänger (Pied
Piper) by the brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. Few people realize
Hthat the story is based on real events, which took place on the day of
Saints John and Paul on June 26 in the town of Hamelin, Lower Saxony, Germany in
1284. The tale is about a 13th century rat-catcher who was cheated out of his pay by the
city administration. He took revenge by using his music to lure children—instead of rats
and mice—through the Ostertor gate (Eastern gate) and out of the town. The children
disappeared with him and were never seen again. The Osterstrasse, the main street
in the old city center, is famous for its colorful, half-timbered houses and sandstone
buildings in so called Weser Renaissance style of the 17th century, characterized by
lavish decorations, volutes, elaborate oriels, masks and grotesque faces.
The bonsai event took place on October 28, 2017, in a modern exhibition hall and a
nearby hotel close to the city center. There were more than 120 bonsai of high standard
and about 15 suiseki on exhibit. This year’s speciality were 31 shohin compositions, a
number exhibited for the first time. As the previous years, a catalogue of all exhibits
will be published and sent free of cost to Bonsai-Club Germany members. On this
occasion, the New Talent Contest was a national competition. This year’s winner,
Manuel Flammann, is invited for the European contest next year to represent Germany
at the European Bonsai and Suiseki convention in Arco, Italy on May 4 to 6, 2018.
Top; A restaurant sign with the motif of the Pied Piper.
Bottom; In 2000 a modern representation of the Pied Piper was installed in front of an historic stone building
in the so called Weser Renaissance style, now a museum.
58 | BCI | January/February/March 2018
