Namhae German Village

In the 1960s and 70s South Korea sent workers to West Germany under a labour agreement - miners and, in larger numbers, nurses - and the wages they sent home were a meaningful part of the economy at the time. From 2001 Namhae county offered land on a south-facing slope above the sea to those who wanted to return, on condition the houses were built in German style, and around forty were: white walls, steep red-tiled roofs, materials in some cases shipped from Germany. People live in them. There is a small emigration history museum explaining the labour agreement and what the work was actually like, and an annual Oktoberfest that has become the county's biggest event. The sea view from the slope is excellent. It is an odd place, and the substance of it is the history rather than the architecture - go to the museum, or the houses are just houses.

What you actually see

• The red-roofed houses - about forty, built in German style, lived in.
• The emigration museum - the labour agreement and the miners and nurses.
• The sea view - the south-facing slope over Namhae's coast.
• Oktoberfest - the county's largest annual event, in autumn.

When to go

April to June and October, with the Oktoberfest weekend the busiest by far. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Honest expectations

Residents live here and ask visitors not to enter gardens or photograph into windows. Without the museum it is a small estate of European-looking houses. Parking is limited.

Nearby

Daraengi terraced village and Boriam hermitage are elsewhere on Namhae.