At former Knauber site Biohof Bursch replaces Obst Orth at Endenich gourmet food mile
The gourmet food mile at the former Knauber, now Bauhaus, is about to change: After 30 years, an organic farm from Bornheim is taking over the fruit and vegetable stand. Soups and dairy products are in the pipeline.
After two weeks of renovation, the Endenich “Feinkostmeile” (gourmet food mile) at Bauhaus (formerly Knauber) is once again up and running. Bornheim's Biohof Bursch will be offering not only fruit and vegetables, but also products from the bakery and farm shop. The new branch opens today, Monday, 16 January. Predecessor Obst Orth had closed their stand on 31 December.
The name Bursch is well known in Bonn from the organic market at Bonn Münster and the weekly market in Godesberg. According to Lothar Tolksdorf, who is responsible for the organic farm's public relations, the Demeter farm operates a total of 16 market stalls, including in Cologne and Leverkusen. The farm shop and café open Mondays to Saturdays at the organic farm in Bornheim Waldorf.
From the farm to the city
The new offer on the so-called “Feinkostmeile” in Endenich includes produce from different areas of the farm and it is intended to cater to the wishes of the clientele. "We are bringing the farm to the city," said Tolksdorf. Customers will get fruit and vegetables, just like they did before, but this time everything will be organic, with the exception of a few additional purchases such as bananas and lemons. "Our big plus is that we are very regional and seasonal," Tolksdorf said.
Besides fresh produce, the organic farm also wants to offer soups and stews in jars, as well as shelf-stable products like sauerkraut and pickled cucumber. Yoghurt and curd cheese, juices and roasted coffee from partner operations will be added to the farm's own products. "We want to gradually expand the range and eventually also offer things like quiches and rice pudding," Tolksdorf says.
Bursch started with organic potatoes
Heinrich Bursch began farming organically as early as 1964. When his pregnant wife Margarete wanted to drink raw potato juice for heartburn, he let the tubers grow without using chemicals "and thus grew what was probably the first organic food in the Cologne-Bonn region after the war", as the farm chronicles report.
In 1968, Bursch opened a small farm shop and began selling fruit, vegetables and homemade wholemeal bread directly to consumers. Today, son Heinz and daughter Renate run a Demeter farm with more than 100 employees and grow more than 70 different varieties of fruit and vegetables in the fields.
Orth was at Knauber for 30 years
Bursch’s predecessor, Obst Orth, had been linked to Knauber for a long time. At their farewell event, the team thanked its clientele for "30 unforgettable years". The fruit and veg shop had originally been set up as a reaction to the German government’s relocation from Bonn to Berlin. On the day the government decided to move, Reinhold Orth, who was a Chief Inspector in the Ministry of Labour, and his wife Ulrike, an administrative assistant in the Ministry of Finance, decided to stay in Bonn. So in 1992, they opened their stall at the entrance to the Knauber DIY market, which later developed into the Feinkostmeile. First Karin and Harald Braun joined them with their "Southern Specialities", then came the fish shop Stuch and the butcher's shop Wingen. The term "Feinkostmeile am Knauber" has stuck with customers, even though the DIY store has belonged to Bauhaus since 2020.
Original text: Bettina Köhl
Translation: Jean Lennox
