Little Germany in Namhae

On Namhae Island, or ‘treasure island’  just off the southern tip of the Korean peninsular you’d be surprised to find a German hamlet right in the middle of nowhere. It has no special name just a little sign that says German village. Yes, it’s true, the streets are paved with cobblestones, the roofs are covered with red tiles, the walls painted white and you can hear the sound  of German being spoken just like in any small village in Germany. A most unlikely place to find a German village, you might say. The people who live here are for the most part German, or have lived in Germany for many years. They speak the language and watch German television. The angles of the roofs should be 45 degrees. The roofs look all the same at first glance, but actually they were built in five different architectural designs.. All the houses in the village have a typical German look--red roof tiles and white walls. If you don’t follow the architecture rules here, you can’t get a permit for building completion. Even the construction materials are imported from Germany. Don’t be surprised if in the near future you can find an American village and a Japanese village sharing the same neighborhood as the Germans. That’s what I heard the Mayor of Namhae is planning  to  do  next. 

Namhae, famous for its garlic, is faced with a declining economy as well as a falling population due to migration of its inhabitants to the cities and the decline in birth rates. In the 1960s Namhae had a population of about 120,000 then. Now there are  only about 51,000, which means a drop of more than 50% as compared to the sixties. "If we can get people to come back, we can build our economy," said Namhae’s mayor Ha Young-je. So the county decided to offer cheap land and housing subsidies to any Korean who had lived in Germany for at least two decades to entice the German residents to come back. There were  takers, so now it has established this German Village for them. "We are trying to reconnect people to their homeland and introduce a peaceful and pleasant part of South Korea to foreigners who never thought they would live here." Why are these people living in this German village given “special privileges?” 

It seems that in the 1960s and 1970s, South Korea  impoverished then,  had sought a partnership with West Germany and had received aid money from them. In exchange, they sent about 10,000 nurses and 7,800 miners to the country to work. So you can say that those who left for work in West Germany then, were the ones who contributed to the nation’s development by increasing their foreign earnings. The emigrants sent tens of millions of dollars back home, providing a significant boost to South Korea's economy. South Korea, and specifically Namhae County, recognized their efforts and dedication to their home country. That’s why this village bears such great significance. The Korean government arranged this place as a resettlement site for them when they returned home. They were the pioneers and deserve to be remembered.

About 40 percent of the couples living in the German Village are Germans who have married Koreans and the rest are  Koreans who are married to fellow Koreans whilst  in Germany or those unmarried and have lived for more than 30 years in Germany. Here you’ll find Hyundai cars with "D"stickers  for Deutschland, garden gnomes are prominently displayed  on the grass lawns and everyone knows everyone else in this  village . It’s like one close-knit big family living together in their little piece of Germany here. One of the Germans said, "We can live like we are in Germany in this neighborhood." Whilst a 65 year old Korean who went to West Germany to work as a nurse at 30 said, "It's like coming back home, I had always felt the need to come back." A cafe at an art village down the road from German Village is stocked with German wine and makes its own sausages but has no German beer on tap yet. I hear that one can enjoy German cultural festivals, like Oktoberfest and German lieder concerts at this art village. I miss the oom-pah-pah music  of Oktoberfest so much. So now you know where to go if you feel homesick for Germany whilst you are in Korea!

Namhae is the top-ranking county in South Korea for having the largest percentage of its population being 65 or older. That figure is 25.8 percent. Mayor Ha knows that bringing more senior citizens to Namhae might not seem like a logical long-term solution to boost the population. But he thinks he can create a certain cache through international villages that will attract stores, hotels and students interested in cultural exchanges. It’ll be a United Nations of retirees of sorts so to speak. I know I wouldn’t mind retiring to such a charming place.

Image: Homestaykorea.com

How to get there

Drive five hours south from Seoul and you’ll find the Sacheon Interchange. The coastal drive is a beautiful one so enjoy it. From Sacheon Interchange, a 30 minutes  journey will take you to one of the nation’s most unique bridges. The five small bridges of the Changseon-Samcheonpo Grand Bridge connect four islets. Some describe it as a ‘bridge museum.’ Namhae residents believed they will realize their dreams after crossing this bridge. That means I’ve got to come here if I want my dreams to come true. Last year, the Ministry of Construction and Transportation designated it one of the 100 most beautiful roads.
Built at the entrance of eastern Namhae, the Changseon-Samcheonpo Grand Bridge consists of five small bridges, each built using a different method and thus exuding its own beauty. Tourists should cross the bridge to get to the German Village. There were numerous prehistoric relics on this islet, called Neukdo. The islet is filled with rape flowers in the spring which makes it very attractive. The blue waves of the South Sea dance under the red bridge which spans for 3.4 kilometers. The bridge is always crowded with tourists who stop to take photographs. Drive for another 40  minutes. After crossing the Changseon bridge, you’ll  see a sign  “German Village.” A snow-white village appears over the sloping hillsides. A German national flag greets us, fluttering in the wind side by side with a Korean national flag. The German Village is a residential area, so there’s no space dedicated to German culture. But you can take a tour of the village and admire the  beautiful houses and make believe that you are in a faraway little German town in Europe. By the way one of the houses was used  as  ‘Cheol-su’s house’ in the hit drama “Fantastic Couple.”  And because of that the German Village suddenly became well-known.  Many of the beautiful spots around Namhae were also featured in the drama.                                                             There’s an art village close to the German Village. A deserted school was renovated into a culture center, called the “Sunrise Art Village”. This is an exhibition area for artists. The exhibits are replaced with new ones every three to six months. It is a precious venue for artists who have difficulty finding appropriate places to display their works. This art community was created  close to the German Village so that visitors can feel the German sentiment and enjoy German cultural festivals, like Oktoberfest and German lieder concerts close to the German community in German Village. Here, visitors can experience even more about German culture than they do in the German Village. 200-thousand tourists swarm to this art village every year to enjoy exhibitions of a variety of cultural and art pieces and participate in hands-on experience programs featuring traditional craftworks. Don’t miss this place  when you visit the German Village.
You’ve already enjoyed viewing the seas from the top of the hill, so we’re going to come down to Mulgeon town which takes about 10 minutes. You can see  the Mulgeon forest fence, natural monument No. 150. It stretches for 1.5 kilometers along the beach with a round coastline, which absorbs winds more effectively than a straight coastline does. 350 years ago, trees were planted here and  this forest fence was created to protect the village from the damage of sea winds. Dozens of kinds of trees surround this coastal town and Mongdol Beach. Walking through the forest fence, which, according to local tradition has protected the village from disasters, one is supposed to stump one’s toes against some mongdols, a local word referring to round, flat rocks. The sound of one’s footsteps on the smooth mongdols will make one  feel more relaxed. The landscape here is really beautiful and soothing. It makes people feel comfortable and peaceful. Everything is quiet and peaceful here.                                                                                                                               So how did you enjoy your taste of a little European culture here in Namhae, South Korea?