My memories of this fair go back very far,
until the beginning of the 50s. The Wertheim Fair was already
something special for my parents and “one” went
there every year, that was part of the annual program. Since my
ancestors came from Bettingen and also relatives
and uncles and aunts, and cousins were there,
the Wertemmer Mess was a meeting place for all the
relatives.
Now we went by bus there, a car my
father had none at that time. Alone the bus ride was
something special for me, because I was allowed on the lap
Sitting by my father, look at the area. When we crossed the
border, my father told me that
until 1918, on the border with Franconia and Baden, there was a
customs house with a turnpike and the wagons had to
pay their toll.
Then finally we were in Wertheim
Excited I went to the hand of my father through the
fair crowd, even then many booths along the
Tauber were along. We stopped at many stalls and
chatted with this or that relative
. The most exciting thing I found was the
“cheap Jakob” stall, which praised everything from shoe polish
to core soap and laces
to the skin cream, there was nothing that you could not
find there. The whole thing was loudly advertised. After
some time we came to the amusement park, which was
not like today a huge crowd, but there were only a few
rides. A children’s carousel, a chain carousel
and a Losbude, much more was not there. The carousel
had a special advantage for me. My brother
could not handle the whole thing and so I always enjoyed a
second ride, because my brother did not want to. Then there were
bratwurst stalls and a marquee, where we sat and
some relatives joined in and
family news was exchanged.
When the bus drove back I was tired. But already on
leaving we said, next year we’ll see each other again
at the Mess.
And so I will go this year to the
“Wertemmer Mess” and
freshen up old childhood memories !