Hofenacker is a small hamlet, which belongs to the Swiss municipality of Ramsen, in the eastern part of the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of Schaffhausen. Hofenacker as seen from east

Geography/Location

As of December 31, 2012, Hofenacker had 22 inhabitants. Its distance to the centre of the municipality is about 1.7 miles, while it is only 160 yards from the nearest Swiss-German border marker and only 0.6 miles from Spiesshof, a former farmhouse and restaurant exactly on the border and next to the German road between

Singen Singen (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the very south ...

and Gottmadingen. Hofenacker as seen from the north

Hofenacker's importance in connection with the 'Singen Route'

Between April 1941 and October 1943, at least 19 escaped Allied POW officers and soldiers (Dutch, British, Canadian), most of them coming from Colditz, reached Ramsen, Switzerland, after having crossed the border west of Spiesshof. Hofenacker was an important landmark for them as they knew that they had to keep west of it near a forest, in order not to stray back into a salient of German territory east of it.See http://www.commandoveterans.org/Searson_escape_evasion_report and http://www.conscript-heroes.com/escapelines/EEIE-Articles/Art-16-Escapers-from-Germany.htm (both retrieved Jan.25th, 2021), also Patrick Robert Reid, ''The Colditz Story'', London (Hodder and Stoughton), 1952, pp.274-275

Airey Neave Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave, (;) (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1953 until his assassination in 1979. During World War II he was the first British prisoner-of-war ...

and Pat Reid were among these escapees.

History

In 1293 Hofenacker appears in a document as 'Offenacker'. Until 1800, there was a brickyard. Clay for fabrication of the bricks was available in the vicinity. There was a vineyard in medieval times which disappeared over the centuries. There is a new vineyard, however, which produces the only Ramsen Wine. The types of grape are

Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...

and

Müller-Thurgau Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine R ...

External links

Official homepage of the municipality of Ramsen - in German

Dorfgemeinschaft Spiesshof - in German

Swisstopo - toppgraphical time travel from 1850 to today

References

{{Authority control Geography of Switzerland

Geography/Location

Hofenacker's importance in connection with the 'Singen Route'

History

Further reading

External links

References