Furth im Wald...my ancestral homeland

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Sylvia and I set out on a two week long trip through Germany, Holland, and the Czech Republic. Our first stop, and one I had been looking forward to for a long time, was in the village of Furth im Wald, which is the town where some of my ancestors on my mother's side (Webers) emigrated from over 100 years ago. The village is situated just a few kilometers away from the Czech border in the region of Bavaria.
Furth im Wald is beautiful old walled city that is famous for its summer fesitval that recreates a legend about the slaying of a dragon.
We arrived later in the evening after most of the shops in town were closed, but as we entered the old town we were just in time to encounter the city's large dragon being assembled for the upcoming festival. The dragon is built around some sort of vehicle and is able to travel up and down the narrow city streets during the festival. After following the dragon down the street for a while, we encountered a group of young kids following a storyteller dressed in a medieval costume. He was carrying a big horn of water as he walked and when he noticed us taking pictures of the group he stopped and tossed some water in our direction before continuing. We still havent figured out quite what this meant.
We spent a while walking around the town and enjoyed some ice cream before heading on toward our next destination.

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Photos

Furth im Wald Festival
We were just a week or two early for the famous festival

Furth im Wald
The old town in Furth im Wald.

Jan Nepomucky
Despite being in Bavaria, the town still placed a statue of Jan Nepomucky (a Czech saint) on its bridge, showing the Bohemian cultural influence caused by its geographic proximity.

City Walls
The city was originally walled and this can still be seen to this day.

Dragon
The town's dragon moves down the street after being assembled.

Old Town
Nice old houses decorated with flowers.

Me and the Dragon
Furth's dragon, which is built around a truck, can drive up and down the street.

Flowers
Most houses had windows filled with flowers.

Sylvia and the Dragon
Sylvia doesn't seem to notice that the dragon is approaching.

Town Well
This well was from the 11th century.

Furth im Wald
Me in the city that my German relatives emigrated from over a century ago.

Bell Tower
Furth had a very nice and interesting bell tower on the main square.

Furth Storyteller
This storyteller was leading children through the street and telling what sounded like an interesting tale. He stopped to throw water at us.

City Crest
The Furth im Wald city crest.

Comments

[Furtherin]

really nice report!
Hi I am from Furth and just stumbled over your blog. Thank you very much for this report and the photos. It draws such a nice picture of our small bavarian town. You should consider to visit us again since we have a new high-tech dragon now :-D -> http://www.drachenstich.de/ Greetings from Germany

[Brett and Sylvia]

Thank you for visiting our blog!
It was very easy to provide a positive picture of Furth im Wald because it was such an incredibly beautiful city with friendly people. My only regret was that we had only one evening there on our way toward Ludwigsburg. We will most certainly be stopping back through one day soon to see more and experience more of Furth!