Button Paradise

Last weekend I went to Fulda for a meeting with a few friends whom I had met through my work as a regional representative for the German Patchwork Guild. They are still active regional representatives in other areas of Germany, and although I’m no longer active, I am still allowed to join in that private meeting. We stayed at the Kloster Frauenberg , where we had already held our meeting last year.

Last year we arrived in a heavy snowstorm, some of us didn’t make it at all, and we almost stayed in the house all weekend. At one point, however, we decided that we did need some fresh air and took a slippery and cold, but fun stroll down the hill into town. Unfortunately, we had chosen Saturday afternoon for this outing, and while some shops were still open, we were disappointed to be left outside of what seemed the most interesting shop of them all: Leinbergers Knopfparadies. Now, doesn’t that sound exciting? Button Paradise.

I still remember the excitement when I was allowed to play with the button box in which my mother kept superfluous or retrieved buttons. Blouses and shirts might be worn out and thrown away, but the buttons were retrieved, and saved in a huge box. Whenever I enter a store in which fabric and sewing materials are sold, I automatically look for the box that holds leftover buttons – the last ones of a shipment, sometimes sold at discount prices. Hardly ever can I leave without having acquired another single button to add to my box of buttons, but I also like to have sets, for which I don't exactly know the future use yet:

Uta's button box, part of it

So it was a true paradisical experience – standing in front of the locked gates of Button Paradise. A year has passed, but the shop had not left my mind, and when I booked my train ticket I made sure that I arrived early enough on Friday to make sure I got there while that gate was still open!

So once we had moved into our rooms and left our luggage, we went downtown. Although we didn’t really know the city, I definitely had a strong sense of orientation that led me directly towards it, and now I also know the address: Gemüsemarkt 11.

They don’t seem to have their own website, only the mentioning when Hessen local TV aired a report on them.

This time the gate was open, and this is a view into the shop, part of it:

Here is a view of the the black button section:

And here is close-up to give you more of an impression of the variety of buttons you can get:

This is the selection of buttons I left the store with – and needless to say, I could have bought many more.

Personal button selection
- characterized by a lot of restraint!

If  you like buttons and ever come to Fulda ...