Chapters:
00:00 Day 12: Enkenbach-Alsenborn
00:34 Day 12: World's biggest cuckoo clock
01:01 Day 12: Triberg im Schwarzwald
02:37 Day 12: Triberg Waterfalls (Triberger Wasserfälle)
04:19 Day 12: Never did find out what the Bollenhut is used for
04:32 Day 12: Trying Black Forest cake
06:49 Day 12: House of 1000 Clocks (Haus der 1000 Uhren)

BELOW IS WHAT IS WRITTEN ON THE SIGN IN ENKENBACH-ALSENBORN:

"The story of the plowing elephant Sam...

There are many tales and stories about Alsenborn and its circus tradition. Many of these stories are true and some of them have been made up by fanciful storytellers but all the tales date back to bygone times of this romantic circus tradition. However, those days were also characterized by poverty and deprivation.

The most famous story dating back to those days – more precisely back to1917 – is the story of an elephant called Sam. The owners of the elephant were the Moulier family, actually their real name was Müller. The family lived in a beautiful villa with sandstone ornaments and a large garden. The male members of the family had been called up for military service; while fleeing to Alsenborn after performing in France the circus had to be dissolved. Only the beautiful daughter of the family, Carola, and two elephants were left over. One of the elephants was called Sam.

The story began when Carola had to dig the garden. There were hardly any horses available as farmers needed them to work in the fields. A carpenter called Schmitt had an idea; Sam could pull the plow and harrow. Carola had some doubts but in a very short time the garden had been plowed even though the elephant went on the rampage afterwards and pulled down a gate post made of sandstone.

Back home the carpenter told his wife what had happened and she thought about employing the elephant to plant potatoes as working in the fields called “Simonsflur” was very hard and the elephant would be a very good solution. Carola agreed and equipped with a strong leather strap Sam started the job. Everyone, especially the children, was watching this spectacle.

After the fields called “Simonsflur“ had been plowed Sam wanted to reward himself for the work and, attracted by the corn, he walked majestically through the neighboring fields. When he reached the next field he pulled out turnips. Thus, for carpenter Schmitt the work of the elephant turned out to be very expensive as he had to pay for the damage.

By the way, the elephants of the Moulier family did not survive the First World War. Even though school children fed them with an apple or a piece of bread here and there the elephants died of hunger. However, the plowing elephant Sam lives on in this partly bizarre story of the circus in Alsenborn.

Von: Dirk A. Leibfried, Kaiserslautern, übersetzt von Gabriele Schäfer, Heidelberg"