Residents of Nuremberg had to clear the way for hundreds of sheep on Sunday as they were herded through the city centre on their way to their winter pastures.
People lined the street to observe what has become a popular yearly event ahead of shepherd Thomas Gackstatter’s flock being led through town.
Among the people in the crowd this year was Taeseok Oh, a professional opera singer and photographer from South Korea, who has lived in Nuremberg for 13 years.
Oh shared some of his photographs with The Local.
The flock of around 600 sheep is kept in meadows around the city during the summer months to keep the grass mowed. The sheep’s slow munching makes for insect-friendly grass care, helping preserve biodiversity, and saves city authorities the costs of mowing.
Then, ahead of the winter, the sheep are led to pastures west of the city. The procession, which is rooted in long-standing local tradition, is intended by city officials to highlight both the heritage of itinerant shepherding and the vital role the sheep play in environmental conservation.
Sheep are still used as living lawnmowers in and around a number of German cities – they also graze in some places in Berlin, Potsdam, Augsburg, Ulm and others.
The procession through Nuremberg, which is a bit more than ten kilometres, runs right through the city’s central market square, where Europe’s largest Christmas market is set to kick off next week.
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Ahead of their passage, city authorities cleared the roads, asking people to keep their dogs away.
Taeseok Oh – who originally moved to the region for a master's degree programme at the Nuremberg Music Academy and has since joined Staatstheater Nürnberg as an opera singer – said that this year was his first time witnessing the annual march of the sheep.
"I missed it every year until I finally saw it this year," he told The Local.
Oh added that he had seen flocks of sheep in his home country of South Korea, but that this was the first time he'd seen them pass directly through a city centre.
Oh said that photography is a side business for him, adding that he started with street photography and has since begun shooting weddings and couple portraits.
You can find more of his work on his website.
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