At the Heldenmarkt

I am hardly missing any fairs and big gatherings in Berlin, but it seems that I never had enough time - or the weather was always too cold to go out of my crib - to visit the Heldenmarkt. Regularly organized in the last years not only in Berlin, but also in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Ruhr and Stuttgart, it gathers producers of various local foods - most of them from the bio and vegan category - and sustainable development projects in general. It usually lasts for 2 days, in the first half of November in the former Postbahnhof, a classical red-bricked Berlin building.

I arrived a couple of hours short the closing time and it was plenty of people and children of all ages, starting from newly born carried by mothers or fathers carefully. The food is the predominant presence, starting with the various sorts of breads, so typical for Germany.

Some stands are offering take away food, mostly vegetarian, with some Oriental flavours. 

More delicious temptations are following: some various mixtures of sweet and sour, with a touch of chocolate and some cornflakes, some of them with some secret chilli ingredients. 

Second in line after foods, there are the sustainable development projects: starting with some lunchware made out of recycled materials...

 and continuing with various funny looking bottles made of different renewable materials.

The same goes for the recycled paper. As I noticed in my own case, I consume and throw away a lot of paper and rarely have the right knowledge to make something completely new out of it.

As a woman and hobby craftsperson, I spent a lot of time admiring various corners with handmade products, like the one with jewellery made out of spoons. Yes, spoons, sometimes the imagination is just a matter of seeing the reality differently.

The printing industry is also represented by a printing house using green technologies, to handmade paper with delicate flowers and leaves insertions.

But, it's time to check again some foodie options, such as this project of a company covering mostly Berlin and expanding to Brandenburg too. It offers regular supplies of vegetables and fruits, and some other bio products as well. 

But as a lifelong fan of rose-based products, the invitation to taste some syrups and jams made out of my favourite flavour was more stronger. Von Blythen Manufaktur offers a big variety of such edible products, plus some special cooking and flowers decorations classes. Check out this Saturday, their open doors day for more interesting events coming up!

 The colours around asked my attention and had to leave the tasting of roses...

For children, there were not only lots of opportunities to learn - to make lemonade, for instance - or to play, but also many cute toys calling their names.

 Meanwhile, their parents can learn how to make their own wooden radio.

Or their mothers, can check some jewellery, made in various corners of the world, among which Africa or Bali or Mexico

The pressure to move on the sustainable side is so big in Germany, that even the newspapers like taz.de operated some brand extensions to include some bio products.

When it comes to clothing, some of the tailored products might look colourful and fresh new, although sometimes it can take you some time to get used with the textures that are a bit raw by touch. 

I keep wandering through the various boots spread on the two levels of the exhibition, with new discoveries in terms of design and packaging solutions. From the same spectacular category is the company producing furniture out of paper: Room in a Box.

Nearby, there is the world of peppers calling me to check various combinations of tastes.

 The counter-balance, the world of chocolate, coming in different shapes and recipes.

For ecologically-aware families, tableware made out of recyclable materials offers the answer of guilty-free long and rich meals when you don't need to worry about cleaning the dishes for hours. 

Germany started with the bio products a long time ago and the current developments are an example of how advanced they are. For instance, the healhty Krunchy products are made for 35 years already.

Cocoa beans are not only for tasting - although I would prefer to taste them as often as possible - but can also be used for various decorations and handmade jewellery. This is probably the only excuse I can accept for not eating them.

But luckily, there are enough cocoa and chocolate supplies to keep me happy and well feed during my visit at the Heldenmarkt. Now, that I know what it is all about, will probably be more decided to visit it the next year again. Even my German is getting much better after so many sweet tasting...