Bosseln and Gruenkohlessen

Off we go!

Way back on the 29^th of January, of this still very young year, some of my colleagues and I went and did what is a very traditional Northwest Germany tradition – we played a game called bosseln and ate a delicious dinner called Gruenkohlessen (basically a sweet dinner focused around green cabbage).

I’m sure you are sitting there in front of your computer or notebook thinking to yourself, “What the heck is bosseln?” Well since you’re wondering, here’s what this game is all about. It’s actually about as simple as it gets.. Bosseln has a couple of possible ways of playing, so I will just explain what we played, which I think is the most common one. There are two teams, each team having one ball. The ball is made of a hard material (so that it wont break when you roll it down the street) and weighs about the same as a big grapefruit. The teams start at a predetermined spot and begin rolling the balls. For example, player 1 from team A rolls it as far as he/she can. Then player 1 from team B does the same. Then the second players from each team do the same, with the team with the least distance always rolling first. A team earns a point when they have “lapped” the other team. This means that, for example, when player two is up for team 1 and player three is up for team 2, but team 1 is ahead, team 1 gets a point.

After a point is scored, the balls are set back to an even distance, and the next players roll (obviously, the players in the same position must make the first roll here).

That’s pretty much it. There is some strategy involved when there are obstacles are involved, like ditches, small hills, cracks or dips in the road, etc. But other than that, there’s not much too it. But there is a secret reason as to why it’s such a simple game. That is, the game is normally played with a bottle or two of some form of hard alcohol. Every time a point is scored, the team on the wrong end of the point must take a shot. This way, the game gets more interesting and fun as it goes along. Unfortunately, I was not exposed to a proper game of bosseln, as the alcohol was left out. But it was a great time nonetheless!

Now, a short little bit about the dinner. As mentioned before, the dinner is essentially focused around gruenkohl, which is green cabbage. The other main types of food associated with a gruenkohlessen are pinkel (a type of sausage special to the area), potatoes (I am in Germany, after all), and other wurst (sausage) varieties. Oh, and let’s not leave out the beer – that is a necessity at something like this.

Bosseln and Gruenkohlessen – a great cultural experience, a fun time, and good eats.

Here are some pictures! (If you are having trouble seeing, simply click the photo for a much bigger version)