"The Vanilla and Strawberry Town " a Holzminden Travel Page by King_Golo

Holzminden is yet another place that I visited frequently during my childhood: My grandma lived there until 1992, and at least twice a year we visited her there.

Holzminden is mostly famous for two of the world's largest factories of artificial scents and aromas. This means that whenever you cross the river Weser and enter the town, you'll find yourself surrounded by the smell of vanilla or strawberry, less often also some other things. It's actually that particular smell that has stayed in my head ever since - not many other things are worth remembering.

Maybe I should also mention that Holzminden is the town where I went to a grocery store alone for the first time! This exciting experience took place like 22 years ago when I was 5... I was given some money and some phrases to say and off I went. My way lead me along a small street and then through a really dark and gloomy forest (consisting of like 10 fir trees, but that was enough to be scary!) until I reached the shop. If I remember correctly, I forgot half of the stuff that I was supposed to bring.... and probably this made me decide that I never ever would go shopping again! :)