District Profile Francop

Francop is a small village along the main dike Hohenwischer Strasse. Its biggest festival is Thanksgiving which is held in a 2-year rhythm and is celebrated with a huge so-called Kaffeetafel (loads of coffee and cakes – baked by the residents themselves – what else) and followed by a lively move of the beautifully decorated tractors and trailers.

Behind the dikes apples and cherries are grown and represent the main business of Francop residents. It is already part of the “Alte Land”, which is the biggest area of fruit plantations in the middle of Europe. There are still a lot of old houses neatly maintained. Other than that the architecture is dominated by red-brick saddle-roofed single houses. It is a gossip-over-the-fence neighborhood where the approximately 6-700 residents know each other and help each other. There is however no ancient wooden-framed and reet-covered farm house anymore but one in the Hohenwisch part. The reason was the big flood in 1962 (which is currently memorized by many fairs).

 

Photos f.l.t.r: „Francop - Hohenwischer Straat Diek“ (c) flamenc (Own work) CC BY SA 3.0, „Hamburg-Francop“ (c) Ajepbah CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, „Windpark Francop03“ (c) GeorgHH Public domain - ALL via Wikimedia Commons

 

1973 is also a year burnt into Francop’s history when the fire brigade lit another of the beautiful ancient farm houses as a gesture against the city’s plans to built a huge pond for toxical mud from the Elbe river (the house had to be broken down in the course of these plans). The pond came and with it the mud. Nowadays, the disposal ground is a little hill blocking the view to the Elbe and to Finkenwerder. In a few years it will cease to operate and by then shall be reshaped into a park. There is no danger in the ground but being subject to such unpleasant city development plans left a deep, negative impression on the Francop residents. Neither is the small hill an ugly sight – despite maybe the windmills. And there are further plans with a presumed negative effect on Francop: the construction of a further motorway.

The history of the village swore the residents into a close social village society. A men’s choir as well as the voluntary fire brigade are the two social get-togethers. The restaurant Deutsches Haus” is the central meeting point of social life. There are a couple of farmers selling their fruits and vegetables and a couple of side products in small sympathetic shops on their premises. For other demands residents have to drive to the neighbor suburb Finkenwerder or, alternatively, to Buxtehude, a small cute town in Lower Saxony. Public transport offers a bus line going to the S-Bahn station Neuwiedenthal - all in all around 35 minutes to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. The bus doesn’t go too often, though. With a car commuting takes a probably the same, as the bottleneck Elbe channel has to be past.

Average rental price per m²

7,50 EUR

Building style ratio

Apartment blocks: 286%
Houses: 71,4%

Population

39,8% singles
21,3% families

17,7% < 18 years
17,9% > 65 years

Average Income Level

Francop:  34.280 EUR
Hamburg: 35.567 EUR

 

Photos f.l.t.r: „Haus Francop 051“ (c) GeorgHH (Own work (Own photo)) Public domain, „Francop - Schleuse aus Holz“ (c) GeorgHH (Own work) Public domain, „Fachwerkhaus in Francop“ (c) Gerhard Kemme (Own work) Public domain, „Francop - Hohenwisscher Str 277“ (c) flamenc (Own work) CC BY SA 3.0, „Das Huckerbrack in Francop“ (c) Gerhard Kemme (Own work) Public domain, „Deich in Francop“ (c) Gerhard Kemme (Own work) Public domain, „Francop - Achter'n Brak“ (c) flamenc (Own work) CC BY SA 3.0, „Willkommen Altes Land Francop03“ (c) GeorgHH (Own work) Public domain, „Francop - Huusbrook Moorwettern“ (c) flamenc (Own work) CC BY SA 3.0 - ALL via Wikimedia Commons