Gnomes, Scalawags, and Bobsleds in Lauterbach, Germany- It's No Fairy Tale

For us, there were many reasons to go to Lauterbach: to track down the tale of the scalawag who lost his sock there, to sing an absurd song about losing a sock in Lauterbach to a tune virtually identical to “Oh Where, Oh Where, Has My Little Dog Gone?,” to stock up on garden gnomes and to sneak off to nearby Alsfeld for an Alsfeld kiss. For most folks however, there is but one reason for the trip: Naturpark Hogher Vogelsberg’s memorable summerrodelbahn (summer bobsled)!

Before setting off in our footsteps, note that there is not one but four towns named Lauterbach in Germany. This stems from all those land-states in Germany’s complicated history, a history I, unfortunately, never studied. But you need to know it’s the Hesse Lauterbach you’re looking for if this article inspires you to travel. It’s toward the southern end of the Fairy Tale Road on the B254 between Alsfeld and Fulda, about 110 km south of Kassel.

What to do: It’s virtually obligatory to visit the statue of the scalawag who lost his sock in Lauterbach. The scalawag story’s ownership is hotly contested among competing Lauterbachs and its particulars differ by geography. This Lauterbach’s version holds that a young man seeking work appeared in town with his belongings tied in a kerchief on a stick. As he appeared to be respectable and honest, the factory manager hired him. Before long, the young man showed his scalawag tendencies, falling in love with the manager’s wife. The manager literally ran him out of town so fast that he lost a sock while running and dared not stop to retrieve it. Tradition dictates taking off shoes when visiting the statue.

And then? Why, you sing “In Lauterbach hab’ ich mein strumpf verlor’n” at the top of your lungs as you skip along the cobbled streets in your stockinged-feet, which in English goes something like this:






I lost my sock in Lauterbach

Without it I don’t go home

That’s why I return to Lauterbach

To get back that sock of my own