All you loyal readers of my Markt Bibart post (thanks again to both of you) will no doubt recall that there are 386 towns in Bavaria which bear the official (modern) designation of Markt (= market), meaning that they have some slight degree of regional importance.

Because of a quaint Bavarian peculiarity, eighteen of these towns now officially have the word Markt twice in their names. These are towns that were already called Markt in the Middle Ages and have since also acquired the modern designation of Markt as defined in Article 3 of the Municipal Code of the Free State of Bavaria.

That’s why the sign at the entrance to Markt Taschendorf reads “Markt Markt Taschendorf” meaning literally “Market Market Pocket-Village”.

Street and church in Markt Taschendorf

For administrative purposes, ten nearby villages have been incorporated into Markt Taschendorf. One of these is Frankfurt, which is three km to the southwest. Together, the eleven villages of the municipality of Markt Taschendorf had 985 inhabitants at last count.

Landgasthof Wellmann

I booked this hotel in Markt Taschendorf through hrs.de (Hotel Reservation Service) because it was the only hotel in the entire Steiger Forest that was registered with any of the usual booking websites. There are other hotels and guest houses, but you have to ring them up to get a room, which I couldn’t be bothered with since I booked this trip in the middle of the night at very short notice.

I paid 35 Euros for a single room including breakfast, which I thought was a fair price.

The hotel is modern and surprisingly large, for such a small village, but the reason it is so large is that they cater particularly to (or cater for, as the British would say) bus (coach) tours. Fortunately there were no tour groups on the night I was there, just a few smaller groups and couples.

Pond and terrace at the Landgasthof Wellmann

The room was fine and so was breakfast. Also I had an excellent supper out in the garden — it was their menu of the day for 14 Euros. Back on VirtualTourist I was notorious for not taking photos of my meals or noting down what they were, but whatever it was it looked and tasted marvelous, so you can’t go wrong if you just order their menu of the day, whatever it is.

By the outdoor tables there is a decorative pond which amazingly enough does not breed mosquitoes, so it is very pleasant to sit outside at one of the tables and have a meal or a beer.

Village Renewal

This fountain looks old, but it isn’t, because the writing on it reads Dorferneuerung (Village Renewal) 1986-87.

The Village Renewal programs in Bavaria are for villages of up to 2000 people. Funding is provided in part by the European Union and in part by the Bavarian State Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forests. The ministry also provides moderators and ideas, but the decisions are made by the villagers themselves. This slows things down but often leads to a high degree of satisfaction with the results, as here in Markt Taschendorf.

The Village Renewal programs aim to provide a long-term improvement in the living, work and environmental situation in rural areas, including land reform and improvements in the infrastructure of the village.

Though the big push for Village Renewal in Markt Taschendorf was in 1986-87, the process continues to this day. At some point there were public meetings on the topic of putting up windmills to generate electricity, so as to increase the self-sufficiency of the village and provide for future needs. Moderators from an organization called bbv-LandSiedlung presented various alternatives: individual farmers who can afford it can put up a windmill of their own, or they can invest in a group project or lease a plot of their land for a windmill to be set up. The villagers themselves will decide whether windmills should be built and if so where, so as to cause minimal disruption to farming and wildlife.

As a result of these meetings, the decision was taken to set up a Citizens’ Wind Park (Bürger-Windpark Markt Taschendorf). About a hundred local residents have invested in the project, and two large windmills have been set up on a nearby hill. They went into operation in June 2016, and have since been producing electricity for about 3500 households in the region. Annual shareholder meetings are held each year in April in the Landgasthof Wellmann in Markt Taschendorf.

49°42’0.48″ North; 10°33’22.74″ East

Location of Markt Taschendorf on Google Maps.

My photos in this post are from 2011. I revised the text in 2020.

Nearby towns in the Steiger Forest:
Frankfurt, 3 km southwest of Markt Taschendorf
Scheinfeld, 8 km southwest of Markt Taschendorf
Markt Bibart, 12 km southwest of Markt Taschendorf