“Wem ist die Kerb?” – “Unser!”

Well, I thought it’s about time to share another photographic journey here on 35mmc. This time it is all about the local “Kerb” of Traisa (“Traase”), one village of six that, combined, make up the municipality of Mühltal (mill valley) where we live. We are located some 35 kilometres south from Frankfurt, Germany. Hopefully, you dear readers were not too put off by the title in German, but translating this battle cry of the annual kermis could be considered a sin by the Germans amongst us. Alright, so we are talking about the kermis, a widespread tradition of village festivals in large parts of rural Germany. Now, let’s get this over with and translate it nevertheless: “Who owns the kermis?” – “Us!”.

Our local dialect in Southern Hesse shaped this pointed four-letter word “Kerb” so we wouldn’t need to waste our time saying “Kirchweih” which describes the origin of this village festival, the sanctification of the local church. Research as to when that sanctification actually took place shows that the protestant church as we know it today was sanctified on the 1st of December 1957. Believe it or not, Germans can indeed be pragmatic: Who wants to celebrate this village festival in the middle of winter when it’s cold and wet? The people from Traisa certainly not, so ever since I can remember, the Traaser Kerb takes place in August. Even more pragmatic, it’s being timed to fall onto the last weekend of the school’s summer holidays when people are back from their travels, and the children aren’t back to school yet. At the end of the day, this is just one big party lasting for 4 days, heavy drinking involved for those that legally can as well as those that don’t care.

Two generations ago, people from the different villages of Mühltal would still practice century old animosities. Folks invading the Kerb of another village would not always be welcome. Fistfights could and did happen. In 1977, the six villages were formally incorporated into that one municipality of Mühltal, likely much to the disapproval of proud people from … just pick any of the 6 villages. Nowadays, the good old folklore of inter-village jollying is kept alive through comically staged exercises like competitive drinking games or pointed speeches highlighting the traits and characteristics of the respective other villagers. But after all, it’s a matter of honour and courtesy that the hardcore Kerb crowds from all villages will support the Kerwe (note the plural of Kerb) of all other villages, bands playing every night, and have I mentioned yet that heavy drinking is the norm?

If you are now expecting photographs of enormous crowds of party people, I must disappoint you. Vast crowds do gather on at least two out of four nights of partying – the other two being a bit slower as they are sobering days for those that cannot take that much. Taking photographs of those crowds would show you, well, nothing but crowds. Therefore, my series of images focuses on the before and after, hopefully still conveying an impression of what Traaser Kerb is really all about.

As Traase is approaching its Kerb, the village dresses up: flower bouquets, flags, pennons, the works. There are varying degrees of artistic skills in those efforts – you be the judge.

At daytime, the whole scenery with its stalls, bars and fun rides looks a bit deserted and depressing. Small traces from the previous night tell you stories at times.

Bumper cars are kind of a must at any Kerb. In 2023, when Tracer Kerb featured “Polyp”, there was no Autoscooter (the German word for bumper cars), and that was a scandal and never happened again.

As the night approaches, the venue gets busier, slowly but surely.

And at some stage, Traaser Kerb is in full swing. Opposite to the busy Autoscooter, imagine a crowd cheering with the band, dancing and drinking more.

There is this peculiar apparatus that invites you to pick up a stuffed animal, or an upside down toy doll for that matter, with a grappler. This procedure is bound to fail more often than not which constitutes the whole business model of this attraction. The Autoscooter folks have diversified their business by adding this thing to their installations at Traaser Kerb.

Finally, there is a point when the band is done, the attractions close down and the bars lose their customers one by one for many different reasons, as you can imagine.

And if you are early to rise the next morning, you might be lucky enough to be greeted with this:

These photographs were taken at Traaser Kerb in the years of 2022 to 2025 on the Leica M3, Leica CL, Cannot QL17 G-III, Shen Hao TFC617-B and film stocks such Silbersalz 250D, Ilford HP5+, Kodak Gold, Kodak Ultramax 400 (EI1600) and Cinestill 800T.

More of my photography can be found at einefragederzeit.de or on Instagram @nureinefragederzeit

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