A special distillery, a cocktail called Manhattan and a passion for seafaring discovery: a touch of New York wafts over the island of Föhr. They are evidence of the era of emigrants.
No, this is not the time to go traveling. But at some point he will come again. And until then we will bridge the gap with beautiful travel stories from near and far in order to give you, dear reader, a little break from your worries about Corona & Co.
A Danish protest pig grunts 400 meters from the dike. Trude is tall as a calf and ringed in red and white. The mother sow sniffs at her piglets in the half-open barn of farmer Jan Hinrichsen in Klein-Dunsum. What holidaymakers don’t know: like a lively cultural monument, the bristle animal tells an important piece of Föhr history. But let’s start at the beginning.
The Aussiedlerhof including the Hofcafé is located in the northwest of the island of Föhr, in Westerlandföhr. It is surrounded by flat marshland, which is green, fertile and criss-crossed by kinks and drainage channels, which defines the island’s landscape. The North Sea, wind and a wide horizon are omnipresent here. Behind the dike, your gaze wanders across the Wadden Sea to Sylt. So far, so expectable.
But between the courtyard café, the pigsty and the petting zoo, the words “Hinrichsen’s Farm Distillery” are emblazoned above another entrance – in typical American typography.
A whiskey still in the middle of the Wadden Sea
Agriculture and seafaring shaped the Föhrer free spirits. “Our family has been farming on Föhr with farm and fields here in Dunsum since 1630”, explains Jan Hinrichsen. “And I am also a passionate farmer.”
But the falling milk prices forced the family to keep more and more cows in order to be able to farm lucratively. “In the end, my wife and I found it pointless to keep growing and saw no more prospects in the dairy industry.” After all, Junior Jonas should take over the farm in good condition.
The Hinrichsens completely redesigned their farm, “so that it’s fun again”. This not only includes the change to an organic farm or the holiday guests in the café-restaurant. Some time ago, the island’s first still was built on Hinrichsen’s farm. Jan Hinrichsen put it into operation in September 2019. The idea is thanks to the typical Föhrer “thinking outside the box”. Because anyone who thinks the North Frisians are sleepy people from yesterday is wrong.
For centuries, the islands were shaped by seafaring. International merchant shipping followed the period of whaling in the North Sea. Private navigation schools on Föhr released highly trained officers and captains, highly sought after by Hanseatic shipping companies. They came back with hands full of money and cultural influences from distant lands. Almost half of all young men became sailors and brought wealth to the barren islands.
Bye Prussia – moin America!
The western half of Föhr was still part of the Kingdom of Denmark at that time. Only after the German-Danish War in 1864 did Föhr – just like Sylt and Amrum – fall to Prussia and Austria. From then on, Prussia not only banned the legendary Föhr seafaring schools, but also introduced a three-year military obligation.
That was nothing for the stubborn and freedom-loving Frisians who were looking for happiness and earning opportunities elsewhere without further ado and countered on the islands with that red and white “protest pig” because they were no longer allowed to fly the Danish flag.
The first big wave of emigrants to America began: 40 percent of the Föhr confirmands emigrated, including Jan Hinrichsen’s great-great-grandfather. He became a logger in the Midwest and only returned after 15 years to continue running the farm. In 1905 the great grandpa, who hired himself as a bartender in Florida, also left.
“Finally, my grandfather emigrated in 1928 and, like so many others, opened a delicatessen shop in New York,” says Hinrichsen. “My father was born in New York and only came to Föhr at the age of 19 to take over the grandfather’s farm.” It was a completely strange world for him here.
While the first televisions were already flickering in the USA and dishwashers were doing the dishes, there was a single telephone for the whole village on Föhr and not even running water. On the other hand there was the beautiful nature, the good air and the freedom of the island.
The whiskey idea was born in America
Like many other Föhrer families, the Hinrichsens keep their ties to US relatives. “It was on a trip to New York Upstate that I saw whiskey for the first time as a real luxury item, and I was enthusiastic about the concept of a courtyard distillery in which all the ingredients come directly from my own farm,” says Jan Hinrichsen .
The 45-year-old read books and attended malting courses. He works with distilleries in Denmark and takes advice from whiskey experts. Today the autodidact stands on his malting floor and demonstrates not only the germination process of his barley, but also all his pride: the first barrels, filled with “New Make”.
The good wine will mature into whiskey for three years in old sherry barrels from Andalusia. Holiday guests can not only get to know Hinrichsen’s distillery on guided tours and tastings, but also become members of the Founders Club and enjoy pre-emptive rights.
Jan Hinrichsen is satisfied. And he achieved something special: “We work sustainably and adapt to nature’s cycle.” For months, barley or rye thrive on his fields, the remaining grain from the brewing process is eaten by the farm pigs, whose dung ends up in the fields. “All ingredients come from our farm and we are the only distillery in Germany where all production steps are carried out on site,” says Hinrichsen.
A breath of New York blows over the whole island
Those who keep their eyes and ears open will find numerous traces of the emigrant era on Föhr. This is also the case in the café and deli “Macke Pudel”, which opened in 2019 in the tranquil village of Oevenum. Behind the nickname Macke Pudel hides the great-grandfather of the siblings Stina and Nils Barnert. Macke, actually Markus, also emigrated and in the 1950s ran a delicatessen shop in Queens, New York. The siblings have fulfilled a heartfelt wish and are reliving the family story with their Macke Poodle.
A bottle-green wall of the stylish café is hung with framed historical photos and newspaper clippings, and some say the world’s best New York cheesecake goes over the counter. Of course, the desserts also include “Grandpa’s milk rice”, cooked according to an old family recipe à la New York Deli.
Last but not least, Föhr’s national drink should not be missing: the cocktail “Manhattan”, a recipe brought back from New York. This mixture of vermouth and whiskey, which is indispensable on Föhr, should be in every Föhr pantry and on all menus on the island. In just under three years there will be strong competition – made on Föhr.
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