In 1997, at the end of a dormant decade that Romania experienced after half a century of hard line communism, Annete and Roman first came to Viscri and discovered a place lost in the middle ages. They found here a life style long gone in their native Western Germany. She being a dentist and a passionate social activist and him being a quiet landscape architect with a dream to raise horses, it didn’t take long until the allure of this simple place immersed in nature convinced them to pack their belongings and transfer to Viscri.

Doing their best to blend in with the local community and to renounce any comfort that would set them apart from their neighbours, they joined forces with two other German couples trying to find ways of helping the local women financially support their families. This is how the craft of hand made felt shoes started in Viscri. Since then, most of the women in the village are diligently soaping the wool into comfortable colourful slippers that came to be synonymous with Viscri.

The felt slippers are best bought at the Café Artizanat shop, located next to the Fortified Church. Although you can also find them on the street, buying them from the shop offers you the benefit of the quality control imposed by the women’s association that runs the place.

And you can find more about their life in Viscri in their recently published book “Ein Dorf wie nirgends anderswo”, available here: https://www.lehmanns.de/shop/naturwissenschaften/47708580-9783946954514-ein-dorf-wie-nirgends-anderswo