A winter scene – Am Fleet. Photograph taken in the late 1950s
Can you recognise the photograph? It is the road Am Fleet in winter, as seen from the bridge in the late 1950s. We are looking towards the centre of the town, along a row of businesses that used to be called the ‘high street’ (Hohe Straße), as it is situated slightly higher than most of the other roads in Jork.
It must have been a hard winter, because the canal was frozen over. We can see a lot of children on the road, but they haven’t dared to sledge on the ice yet. The banks of the canal, with no balustrade, consisted of a so-called ‘soft’ embankment with steps (Stöpen). The trees on the embankment no longer exist.
There used to be nine retail shops in this road – but now there is only one, Pagel’s the bakery. On the left we can see one of the oldest houses in the street, a half-timbered house with elaborate brickwork. It was the former brewery, distillery and inn, standing at right-angles to the street. The younger generation can probably remember the ice-cream parlour here, which was very popular and used to be in the right-hand part of the building, the former barn. Next to it was Hinck, the shoe-shop, with the double gable, and to the right of it Gehret, and later Müller, the electrician’s.
