French Pottery in Soufflenheim

You know what’s wild? I’ll tell you. You can live in a place and have no idea what cool things are right outside your door. I was reminded of this again arriving in Soufflenheim, France. Twenty or so years ago I lived in Strasbourg for a month and really had no idea this was so close! Soufflenheim is a “little town, it’s a quiet village,” (Beauty and the Beast reference intended…the villages of the Alsace area are exactly the Beauty and the Beast look) just north of Strasbourg that goes waaaayyy back with their production of pottery. Archeological evidence dates the making and selling of pottery from this exact area to the Bronze Age. Molds have been discovered there too dating as far back as 400 B.C. In the 12th century, Emperor Barbarossa granted the potters of Soufflenheim the perpetual right to extract clay from the nearby Haguenau forest. It is really beautiful to see it continuing even now.

I took a short drive from my home in Germany now to check it out. The clay here is unique and creates the most stable pottery to cook in and the artisans make the most beautiful things. There are several different “Poteries” all along the main route through town so you can park and just pop in to see the different creations.

I was especially taken with the J.L. Ernewein-Haas artisan pottery workshop. The kind shop owner shared with me that his family had been there in Soufflenheim making pottery since the 10th century and in their current shop there for the last three generations. He takes his truck to pick up the clay and creates pieces all day to sell from his shop and to ship around the world.

It was all beautiful and I loved the special instructions and uses he shared for each kind of piece that they make. There were garlic, onion, and potato storage pots with holes to keep them dry and fresh. There were teapots and cups and plates. And I loved the baking dishes of all kinds.

One especially caught my eye. It was rough clay on the outside but a glazed sheep mould on the inside. The man shared with me in French that it is for an Alsatian Easter tradition. A special brioche bread —Kougelhopf — is made inside the sheep mould and as people come to visit over the Easter holiday they are given a slice to eat with a cup of tea together.

I took home one of these moulds for us to begin a new Easter tradition, and also bought a beautiful baking dish for roasted chicken and vegetables that I can’t wait to try.

Pottery that is used in the oven needs to soak in water for 24 hours before using so they went straight into the sink when I got home. Next I’ll need to cure the sheep mould in the oven with butter before it’s first use. I'm kind of excited and don’t think I’ll be able to wait until Easter to try it out.

I love these days out exploring. It’s always uncomfortable not knowing where I am going, trusting GPS (that sometimes still gets us lost), and figuring out parking which can sometimes be the biggest stress of any trip, but I don’t really know how much time we have here and I don’t want to waste any of it. I want to appreciate the beauty of life that is happening right now! That doesn’t mean I don’t have days at home with all the regular things like laundry, and paperwork and staying on track of kid appointments and commitments — that’s all part of life too. It does mean that I am making an effort to get out and learn more than I have in the past. It means a lot to me that we get to live overseas again and I am savoring it.