Lahr’s new „Schlachthof“ youth centre in the former sandstone municipal abattoir (located near the former Canadian downtown expressmarkt and Bank of Montreal) has been running for three months now but only opened a bistro for food and drink on the premises at the beginning of October.

German „Miss World“ from Wolfach 21-year-old Adina Wilhelmi, who comes from the B-33 Black Forest town of Wolfach, won the German beauty pageant on 5 October and will represent her country for the world title competition in South Africa in mid-November.

Downtown food stores to close Lahr city centre food stores „Plus“ and „Neukauf“ (located in the basement of Kaufhaus Krauss) will soon close down because of increased competition from the Edeka supermarket in the new Area Park (located opposite the former Canadian Community Centre). Thus the predicted loss of downtown business is happening despite assurances given during the planning stages of the shopping mall. Many downtown stores have been vacant for some years now, due a lack of customers after the departure of the Canadian Forces.

The new Mahlberg-West Autobahn rest stop was officially inaugurated on 19 October to replace the „provisional“ building that had stood there for 34 years. The extension and construction was made possible because hurricane „Lothar“ knocked down many trees in that area two years ago. The new filling station and restaurant cost a total of DM 5.3 million.

L’art pour Lahr On 19 October a new art gallery was officially opened in Lahr’s Obertorstrasse (just behind the Old City Hall and diagonally opposite the Löwen Hotel). The building is municipal property but it was repaired and renovated by an association of about 20-30 local artists known as „L‘art pour Lahr“ which has been in existence for some years now and has already carried out several projects in the city and surrounding area. For the first exhibition each artist provided a piece of work on the theme of a new beginning.

First mayoress in Ortenau county Gerlinde Kleis, 46-year-old commercial college teacher and mother of three, was elected mayoress of Meissenheim and Kurzell on 21 October and will take office on 6 December. According to local tradition, a 16-metre high victory pole was erected outside her family home. It was a political sensation and a bitter defeat for the incumbent mayor Kurt Reith (aged 49) who was running for a third eight-year term of office. However, the voters obviously felt they needed a change from his rather authoritarian style. In the province of Baden-Württemberg the position of mayor is a full-time managerial job, as the duties include not only fulfilling a representative role but also acting as the community‘s chief executive officer.

Ichenheim celebrated 225 years market rights on 22-23 October with a huge historical market, a parade through the streets of the village and lots of entertainment.

The new Lahr airport manager is Ann Reynolds, a British woman who also manages other Wiggins Group airports in Europe (Wiggins holds 85% of the company shares). Former manager Kurt Jäger was removed from his post during a Lahr airport shareholders meeting on 19 October and the dismissal was confirmed at the end of the month. No reasons were for the change were publically announced, but it is assumed that Wiggins wants to have more say in Lahr.

Chrysanthemum Festival This year’s unique Lahr flower show is bigger and better than ever, with splendid colours everywhere in the downtown area. Special displays have been donated by the French communites of Erstein and Besancon. It started on Saturday 27 October and has attracted a large number of visitors because the weather was warm and sunny for the first two weeks, plus „Coat Sunday“ with market and stores open on Sunday afternoon on 28 October. The flower arrangements will continue until 18 November (photos).

Halloween traditions While the Canadian Forces were stationed here (until 1994) Halloween was virtually unknown except for residential areas where Canadians lived. In the past few years the celebrations have been spread throughout Europe by concerted commercialization: there are now masses of Halloween paraphernalia decorating many shops and stores everywhere, plus Halloween parties (including a big parade at the Europa-Park in Rust).

Golden October After a dull and rainy September in the Lahr area, October received more than average warm sunshine, which was very favourable for the grape harvest, so we can look forward to a good vintage wine for 2001.

From 30 July the Kaufhalle in Mietersheim will be closed for restructuring because it has been bought by Kohler Lebensmittel GmbH, the food company that owns and runs the supermarket in Lahr‘s new „Arena“ shopping centre. The Kaufhalle Lahr is due to re-open mid-September with a new food display covering 2700 square metres (photos).