Freiburg Site warning
Early June, my wife and I decided to go to Freiburg Camping Hirzburg. We arrived at 2.30pm only to find we had to park outside on a busy main road since Reception was closed between 12 and 3. One motorhome parked near us had a wing mirror knocked off by a passing bus.
Having booked in, we were taken to our pitch, where the warden got out a tape measure to make sure we were pitched exactly to the centimetre of his instructions. Why, well the neighbouring caravans were 18 inches either side, not enough room to use our step or even open our door fully without hitting our neighbour's van.
We returned to reception to complain and told that since we had booked for 4 nights, we would only get a 50% refund. We left the site and went to Alsace where we knew the pitches were large and individual.
Moderator Comment - This is not a story but might be of use to travellers so I am moving it to the Overseas Sites and Touring Section. Also one passage that might be considered to be offensive has been removed.
Comments
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Ron
Its a shame that your stay was spoilt. Unfortunately it is quite common in Germany to be closed between midday and 3.00pm. One does wonder to whose benefit this is for? From what you say it seems that you were not on a proper pitch if you were that close together?
David
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The 'quiet hours' rule is a relict of an old law in Germany that was supposed to ensure that people could take a nap after lunch without being disturbed. The law no longer exists, but many campsites, especially those with limited staff, continue to implement it, often to allow them to leave the reception area for a couple of hours and attend to other jobs around the campsite.
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Seems a very strange story. As the OP clearly states the warden was there with a tape measure when they positioned the van, why did they do so. Why not complain at this stage. If I was taken to a pitch in what was clearly a storage compound, I would refuse it. Not position the van then go and complain about it.
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I was wondering that myself, I always ask to view the pitch first before paying in any case.
It's not just Germany that closes for lunch, twice on our last trip to France we arrived at a site just after 12 noon to find they were closed, one site from 12 -1400 the other from 12-1600 the last one was a municipal site and particularly annoying as we had phoned the day before to check. We were told reception closed but site open, the barrier was down on our arrival. While we were there looking around another 2 vans arrived and left, we did likewise. On both occasions it worked in our favour as we found nicer sites. Still annoying though.
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If a site barrier is down at lunchtime I just wander inside and ask someone for the code - then give them a beer later.
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As stated above, it is very common for reception to be closed for a long periods d around lunchtime. I guess it helps with staffing, particularly in low season, although it is interesting that this is more prevalent on French municipal sites where many are still operated under the control of the Marie (Town Hall). How encouraging to note sites like Les Erables at Millau where the "new" owners (five years now) are hands-on to the extent that they never close at lunch time.
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Years ago on a German site, 2 couples pitched near us. They travelled in 1 big car, but had 2 (small) tents. They'd asked to be on the same pitch and were told that was fine, but they had to pay for 1.5 pitch! So they put the tents on 1 pitch and the car on half of the adjacent pitch. It seems to me that on German sites there seems to be less freedom to pick a pitch and there is more allocation of pitches. In France we've seen quite a few MHs or tents sharing the same pitch.
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When they look out of the office windows at you, still ignore you they don't get my pennies I'm afraid. There are loads of sites who leave the barrier up and let you go to the office to book in once it's back open. 
