About Burkhard

Draußen bin ich lieber als drinnen. Und draußen am liebsten wandernd mit meiner Hündin Fosca. Seit Mai 2020 dokumentiere ich Aktivitäten auf Komoot. Aus dem Regime zur Erlangung bestimmter Titel habe ich mich verabschiedet. Ich zeige gerne meine Aktivitäten, und freue mich sehr über Austausch, Lob, Kritik und Anerkennung. Mein Blick auf die Welt soll durchaus vielfältig sein. Er ist einerseits geprägt durch das Sehen, denn ich habe eigentlich stets eine Kamera dabei. Andererseits interessieren mich inhaltliche Hintergründe von Landschaft, Natur und Ornithologie ebenso wie Siedlungsstrukturen und -geschichte. Ich frage dabei immer nach der Geschichte und den Geschichten. Ich mag es gerne, unterwegs mit Menschen ins Gespräch zu kommen. Entsprechend schätze ich an Komoot die Kommentarfunktion, denn darüber kann ich mich austauschen. Dabei finde ich Witz, buddhistische Gelassenheit, Wortspiele und ja, gerne auch Kalauer bereichernd. Kurz gesagt: ich möchte mich freuen, und nicht ärgern.
Nun ein Blick in die Technikabteilung, da ich häufig nach meiner Foto-Ausrüstung gefragt werde. Ich nutze alles, was mir zur Verfügung steht. Da ist einmal das iPhone. Häufiger ist es die Fujifilm X-Pro2, die eingesetzten Objektive decken 16-400mm ab (entspricht 32-600mm KB). Manchmal tut es auch die kleine Fujifilm XF-10 mit fester Brennweite (28mm). Da ich immer noch gerne die klassische Spiegelreflexkamera mag, nutze ich die Nikon D850. Die Objektive reichen von 12-500mm. In bestimmten Situationen fotografiere ich mit der Hasselblad L1D-20c an der Mavic 2 Pro.
Einige der hier dokumentierten Wanderungen finden sich auch auf tiltshift@outlook.comAlle Texte und Fotos ©Burkhard. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Kontaktieren Sie mich, wenn Sie mehr wollen, als sich die Bilder anzuschauen. All texts and photos ©Burkhard. All rights reserved. Contact me for use other than viewing on this site.

Distance travelled

666 mi

Time in motion

227:43 h

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  1. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    November 24, 2021

    2.72 mi
    2.7 mph
    50 ft
    50 ft
    beluga11, Bettina and 171 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      The alarm clock rang at 6:00 a.m. this morning, but that didn't stop the entire family from just going back to sleep. Even the dogs made no notice. At 7:30 a.m. the two people got up, but the dogs still remained lying down. While getting up early in spring and summer is completely problem-free (for everyone), there still seem to be remnants of a hibernation gene in humans and dogs. Actually not a bad facility that would save us from so many hardships. Even such incongruous stories as a lockdown would not be a problem at all. We'd wake up in the spring, check the supplies - and then find the pandemic is over. Ok, just such a weird idea, too much sleep obviously leads to this. At 10:30 am we were finally ready to leave. Since colleague Vissel had a video conference at 2:00 p.m., there was only a fairly short tour. As if made to visit the Kratt oaks again. We find it between Quelkhorn and Wilstedt, near the small town of Buchholz. A large number of these oaks, some of which have grown in all directions, remained relatively small and formed bizarre shapes, can be admired there. This special appearance is attributed to the grazing of past times, when sheep and goats also looked for food in the forests and ate away the young shoots of the oaks. Kratt is the north German name for a coppice forest with small and partly intertwined trees. However, before they have reached such a stately size as the old specimens, they must be 200 to 400 years old.
      Their growth has always saved the oak trees from being harvested. Their crooked trunks were not suitable for building barns or for grazing stakes. We were completely alone there, which is not always the case, because the oak trees have piqued the interest of many nature lovers. According to a report in the local newspaper, they should also attract “non-local esotericists”. "On Midsummer Nights and on Walpurgis Night, mystics seek their proximity because the trees are supposed to emit a certain magic and they are viewed as a force field." Well, we didn't meet any esotericists, but they are currently very busy in other areas too ...
      By the way, my first Komoot hike led to the Kratt oaks in May 2020. To this day I am not really satisfied with the photos I took back then. Photographing these strange trees is not that easy. I have never photographed her the way I actually see her. On May 20th of this year I actually wanted to celebrate 1 year of Komoot by repeating the tour. But I didn't dare. Today a new attempt had to be made, which found the oak defoliated in the hazy November light. Somehow this state of aggregation fits better, as it shows the shapes better than in leafy splendor. The short tour then took us to the elevated edge of the dune between the Wilstedter and Quelkhorner Moor, and through the small town of Buchholz, where about 650 people live.

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      • November 24, 2021

  2. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    November 17, 2021

    4.03 mi
    2.7 mph
    25 ft
    25 ft
    1. Burkhard

      You can't complain about today's weather. After days of gray lead pressed on the mind, the sky tore open at around 2:30 p.m. to turn the day into a beautiful November day. The only problem was that we had already finished our short hike through Seehausen at 1:30 pm ... So we had to deal with the usual fog, wind and drizzle. That was also the reason why we slept in today, had breakfast in peace and only decided relatively late to go to Seehausen. We wanted to run a little Iggy-fair and talk about God and the world (the world is currently called a pandemic, of course ...), and we didn't know whether that would be a hike for Komoot. Therefore there is no video from Vissel today. He'd left his equipment at home right away, but then he had the important job of keeping my hands free and guiding Iggy and Fosca. The drone recordings are particularly evidence of the cloudy morning. Otherwise, I was looking for color, beyond colorful autumn leaves. When I saw and photographed the red ship, I decided to turn it into a Komoot activity. It reminded me of the Stollergrund, which I photographed in Süstedt at the end of September. And maybe I'll get a small collection of dry, damaged and abandoned ships and boats together. In any case, a promising start has been made.
      The journey to Seehausen basically shows the whole problem of the small district. At several motorway spaghetti junctions you end up in the freight traffic center, from where you can drive on an unadorned cul-de-sac to Seehausen. When the Weser appears, the smell of a sewage treatment plant penetrates the car and you only have the steelworks in front of you, you are in Seehausen. Almost 1,100 people live here. As far as we met people, they were very friendly. A boxer breeder was particularly pleased when she saw my two specimens. Of course, it only continued after experiences, anecdotes and cell phone pictures had been exchanged. Incidentally, the President of the Bremen Citizenship, Frank Imhoff, runs a farm in the local district. I have to mention that he is also a boxer’s keeper. Most of the district consists of marshland, a road meanders through the village parallel to the Weser. Seehausen owes its name to an earlier branch of the Weser that has become a lake. The current districts of Hasenbüren and Seehausen emerged in the 12th century, at the same time as the district of Lankenau. 1945 Seehausen is incorporated into the city of Bremen. The smallest local office in Bremen has been here in Lower Bavaria since 1951. The district has suffered a number of losses over the years. Including houses that are being demolished for industry or for widening the Weser. Seehausen also lost the village of Lankenau through the Neustädter Hafen built in 1965. Around 1956, the Klöckner steelworks (today: ArcelorMittal Bremen GmbH) settled on the opposite side and the Seehausen sewage treatment plant was built between 1962 and 1966. From 1980 the plans for the federal motorway 281, which is to cross the Weser via Seehausen, are made. In 2002 the Bremen Senate decided that this should be done via a tunnel (needless to say that the tunnel has not been built to this day ...). Gerd Aumund, who was the head of the local office at the time, said in 2016: "The place has done so much for Bremen and now it is Bremen's turn to do something for us in Seehausen."

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      • November 17, 2021

  3. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    November 3, 2021

    1. Burkhard

      Today's tour was a bit geared towards the young Iggy, i.e. it shouldn't be too long. But we wanted to trust him about 7 km. That is why we chose a small circular route, starting and ending in Harpstedt, a place that is already part of the Oldenburger Land. We started across from the Amtshaus on the upper reaches of the Delme. There are still trace elements from a former water mill. The half-timbered building is now a hotel. The goal and turning point was the ocean bridge, a 175 m long wooden structure over the Delme. The bridge is so named because it leads directly to America. This place owes its name to a German-American couple who built an inn called America here shortly before the First World War. The inn no longer exists, but the name has been retained. The beautiful saying “Make America great again” didn't quite work here in two ways. Firstly, it was never big, and that's why it is actually called Little America, and secondly, it seems difficult to imagine making more of the few thrown houses than they are. So it's a nice joke but not worth the walk. Therefore, after crossing the Delme, we walked back towards Harpstedt on the ocean bridge. The day started with an unexpectedly beautiful sunrise. A few minutes later the sun was again behind the clouds and the morning haze. And the hazy lighting also accompanied us to the ocean bridge. The autumn was dull colored up to here, then it turned golden after all. Both had something. In addition to the unexpected unobstructed view of the sunrise, the tour offered other surprises. It is more scenic than expected, classic Geestrand with a deep quarry forest, which is home to the river bed of the Delme. The grandiose beauty conceals, as so often, the true condition of the river. The Delme suffers from the multiple influx of ocher, which coats plants and fish spawn and causes them to die ( So what we are really dealing with is a restructuring case and we can only hope that the right measures will be taken. Harpstedt is also surprisingly beautiful. We visited the mill, which was built in 1871 as a three-story gallery Dutchman to grind oak bark, which was used for tanning cattle hides. In 1912 it was converted into a grain mill. A total renovation took place in 2009, so that the striking mill is still a landmark of Harpstedt and a manufacturing historical monument. Mills can be found almost everywhere here, and the same applies to church buildings. The Harpstedter Church is, however, rather rare here in the north, a baroque church and it is mostly yellow. Church and area are a wonderful ensemble. The last port of call is the aforementioned Amtshof, a simple but imposing half-timbered building that was built on the foundations of the demolished castle in the middle of the 18th century. It is surrounded by the former moat and is currently the seat of the joint municipality administration. This ends our little hike suitable for young dogs. Iggy did an excellent job and we were very enthusiastic about the circuit.

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      • November 3, 2021

  4. Burkhard and Dolle went for a hike.

    October 29, 2021

    Ewa und Christof, Gunnarsson and 275 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      At 6:20 a.m., Dolle and I were on the observation tower - so as not to meet anyone. The whole thing was very comfortable, we had a free choice of seats and shamelessly took advantage of it… .STOP !!!
      This is the text from last year, it doesn't work that way.
      Today started like this: At 7:00 a.m. (last year the clocks were already set back, so we were actually 20 minutes earlier today) we met in an already very full parking lot in Tiste, including a large number of mobile homes . The irritation that arose in us was confirmed 20 minutes later, the tower was already very well occupied. In other words, it was full of crane enthusiasts. The same applied to the second grandstand. Oh well. It happened as it had to: you are here to visit the bird of happiness, but that does not prevent you from being grumbled at immediately unhappy (of course, in my experience, by representatives of my generation). Sure, even those who sit in the back row want to have a clear view ahead. You could have got up to have one of the coveted window seats, but let's leave that ... We were so happy to be here that we immediately left the business lounge. Dolle stood on a staircase, I went to the stands. There I was immediately offered a place with a clear view by a young man. The grandstand is in a B-location, but the atmosphere was relaxed. Incidentally, today everything was different. Last October there were 5 people and 15,000 cranes here, which makes 3,000 birds per person. Today 75 people and rather only 7,500 birds, so 100 birds per nose. You can get hectic to get your rights. After all, everything gets more expensive. The circumstances described were compensated by a flawless blue sky, which offered a splendid symphony of blue and red tones until sunrise. Add to this the spectacle of the cranes that get louder and louder and then take off, an experience of nature simply cannot be more intense. It can be addictive! And if you forego sleep and are there perhaps 2 hours earlier, you might also sit in the first row of the business box ...
      As always when Dolle and I are out, our mascot, the wren, was present, and today there were even two who maintained an intensive dialogue. However, they did this in the impenetrable wood of a pine, so that a photo was unsuccessful. Therefore, the blackbird man had to serve as a substitute today. I think he didn't do that badly though ...
      For more information: The Tister Bauernmoor near the towns of Tiste and Sittensen is one of the most important crane spots in northern Germany. In October and November several thousand cranes rest in the moor before they fly on to their winter quarters. The official Tister world record is almost 21,000 cranes, which were counted here on October 27, 2014.

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      • October 29, 2021

  5. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    October 27, 2021

    5.67 mi
    2.9 mph
    75 ft
    75 ft
    Bettina, Jacj and 189 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      So, jetzt wird es langsam eng. Die UBUs gehen uns aus. Nur noch diese und dann die letzte Etappe – und fertig ist die Rundreise um Bremen. Vielleicht fällt uns ja, weil wir uns nur schwer trennen können, darüber hinaus noch ein kleines Special ein… Schaun mer mal. Heute starteten wir am Ochtum-Sperrwerk, das in den Jahren 1971-76 gebaut wurde, um die Wiesen und Äcker entlang der Ochtum zu schützen. Das war nötig, da die Ochtum in freier Verbindung zur Unterweser steht und dem Tideeinfluss unterliegt. Von dort geht es nach Altenesch (das wir schon im März 2021 bewanderten). Es ist immer noch dunkel, was sich heute auch nicht mehr ändern soll. Es sind 13 Grad und es nieselt leicht. Also mein Lieblingswetter. Ohne Ironie. Und ab hier wird es ganz heftig geschichtsträchtig, und zwar in mindestens doppelter Hinsicht. Genau hier fand 1234 (endlich mal ein Datum, das auch ich mir merken kann…) die Schlacht von Altenesch statt. Die Stedinger, freiheitsliebende Bauern aus der Wesermarsch, brachten ungefähr 3.000 Kämpfer zusammen, die allerdings gegen die fast doppelt so große Übermacht der Bremer und Oldenburger keine Chance hatten. In der Schlacht wurden die Stedinger durch ein vereintes Heer des Bremer Erzbischofs und der Oldenburger Grafen gemetzelt. Das Stedingerland fiel dann auch an die Oldenburger. Noch heute wird der Landstrich, der die Gemeinden Lemwerder und Berne umfasst, Stedingerland genannt. Das gerade kurz vor Altenesch immer noch im Dunkeln passierte St. Veit Denkmal erinnert an diese Schlacht, es zeigt uns die Inschrift: „Den im Kampfe für Freiheit und Glauben auf diesem Schlachtfelde gefallenen Stedingern. Am 27. Mai 1234 unterlag den mächtigen Feinden das tapfere Volk. Bolko von Bardenfleth, Thammo von Huntorp, Detmar vom Dieke fielen mit ihren Brüdern. Am Jahrestag der Schlacht 1834 geweihet von späten Nachkommen.“ Als wir dann wieder die wunderbare Walfluke von Gert Bartsch erblicken, die er im Gedenken an die Walfahrer dieses Ortes geschaffen hat, wird die zweite geschichtliche Dimension der heutigen Wanderung klar. Ich rede über die Geschichte der Schifffahrt. Seit 1653 wurde bei Grönland bremischer Walfang betrieben, den Speck der Tiere brauchte man für Seife und ihr Tranöl für Lampen. Der bremische Walfang, dessen Zentrum Vegesack war, endete 1858. In Altenesch lebten eine Reihe von Walfängern, von denen nicht wenige ihr Leben in der eisigen See ließen. In Altenesch entdecken wir auch die ersten Schifferhäuser auf unserer Wanderung, teilweise noch sehr gepflegt und mit Reet eingedeckt. Sie werden uns jetzt mit Unterbrechungen bis zum Schluss unserer Runde um Bremen begleiten, immer eng am Deich liegend. Sie verlieren allerdings dort an Wirkung, wo sie wegen des Ausbaus (der immer noch schmalen) Straße mit dem Eingang direkt auf die Straße treffen, manchen ragen sogar ein Stück hinein. Zu Altenesch ist noch zu sagen, dass hier die mit Abstand freundlichsten Menschen leben, die uns auf unserer Tour begegnet sind. Schon im Frühjahr lernten wir Frau Bohn kenne, deren Rüde ganz heftig mit Fosca flirtete. Heute begegneten wir ihrer Schwiegertochter, die von ebenso großer Freundlichkeit ist. Und natürlich versuchte der liebe Rüde auch wieder sein Glück bei Fosca. Auch wieder vergeblich. Der benachbarte Landwirt lud uns ein, über sein Grundstück zu laufen, und Fosca wurde aus einem anderen Haus mit Leckerlis versorgt. Ein Traum. Aber wir wollten weiter, und nutzten dabei zumeist den Weg auf der Deichkrone. Von dort hatten wir die Gelegenheit wunderbar in eine Menge von Fenstern schauen zu können. Es war nicht immer erfreulich, manchmal sehr kitschig aber oft eben auch wunderbar skurril.
      Wir haben den ehemalige Flughafen Lemwerder heute stets rechts von uns liegen. Weil wir nicht nochmals die Weser bis Lemwerder entlanglaufen wollten, haben wir uns heute für eine Alternativroute am Deich von Altenesch entschieden. Und die ist in der Tat wesentlich spannender als die etwas monothematische Parallelstrecke an der Weser (Sorry, liebe Weser…). Nach militärischer Nutzung (hier baute Junkers im 2. Weltkrieg Bomber und Jäger) des Flugfeldes zog mit der VFW ein Vorläufer des Airbus-Konzerns hier ein, zuletzt betrieb Airbus bis 2010 eine Reparaturwerft. Heute sollen hier Rotorblätter für Windkraftanlagen lagern, wir entdecken ganze zwei. Ansonsten einiges, was eher an Altmetallverwertung gemahnt. Wir erreichen Lemwerder, ein Ort, der komplett von zwei Werften geprägt ist. Womit wir wieder bei der Geschichte der Schifffahrt angelangt sind. Hier wird gearbeitet, und das sieht man auch. Keine geschniegelten Banker auf der Straße, statt dessen gepflegte Blue-Collar-Männer. Die große Abeking & Rasmussen Werft baut mit über 400 Mitarbeitern militärische Boote und tritt immer wieder mit Superyachten ins Rampenlicht der Öffentlichkeit. Die Auftraggeber werden fast stets nicht genannt. Auf jeden Fall müssen sie von weit her anreisen und kommen in der Regel eher nicht aus Leuchtenburg, Ottersberg oder Altenesch… Mit 1.500 Mitarbeitern noch wesentlich größer als A&R ist die Fr. Lürssen-Werft, die ihren Hauptsitz allerdings in Vegesack hat. Das Portfolio beider Konkurrenten ist ähnlich, wobei sich Lürssen durch den Zukauf der Hamburger Werft Blohm+Voss allerdings noch weit stärker auf den Militärschiffbau konzentriert. Wie gut beide Werften durch die erneute Werftenkrise kommen (der Auftragseingang der deutschen Seeschiffswerften fiel 2020 um rund 80 Prozent) ist ungewiss. Die Voraussetzungen, es relativ gut zu meistern, sind allerdings gegeben, da beide Unternehmen einerseits Technologieführer und andererseits in Familienbesitz sind.
      Unsere vorletzte UBU-Etappe endet an der Kapelle am Deich, das älteste Gebäude Lemwerders. Der frühgotische Backsteinbau ist aufgrund seiner geringen Größe und der Enge der hiesigen Bebauung am Deich leicht zu übersehen. Die kleine Kirche soll aus dem Jahre 1260 stammen, und diente als Kapelle für die damals ortsansässigen Walfängerfamilien.

      • October 27, 2021

  6. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    October 17, 2021

    Bettina, Vissel and 219 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      Our third UBU stage is without a doubt the section with the strongest contrasts. We start in Ihlpohl, a district of Ritterhude. Ihlpohl impresses with a, well, certain lack of structure. It seems as if here, on the outskirts of the city (where it is, although not part of Bremen, is) trade, supply and small, medium and large medium-sized companies have spread rather unplanned. Since there is not only growth, but also economic failure, there is an idiosyncratic mélange of new and established companies and disgusting vacancies. Hypermarkets, sports studios, a notorious large disco, car dealerships, chip stalls, gas stations, etc. line up. You have to like it - I admit, I tend not to. The fact that Ihlpohl is characterized by trade and supply is certainly also promoted by the fact that the place is characterized by the federal highways 27 and 270. Everything here is car-friendly and easily accessible.
      Ihlpohl belongs to Ritterhude, which has a population of around 15,000. My favorite research on places we walk through actually led to nothing this time. No scandals, no celebrities, no dramatic past. Nothing. If Ritterhude were a book, it would certainly be the “man without qualities”….
      So now back to the contrasts. We almost always hike along the Lower Saxony / Bremen border, and after a short distance turn from the consumer-lively Ihlpohl into the valley of the Ihle. Here the upper reaches of the Ihle flows through a flat valley, flanked by damp and wet grassland. The area is said to be of great importance for endangered plant species, which, however, does not really reveal itself at first glance. Unless you count open allotment huts and bulky rubbish heaps to it….
      When walking through Ritterhude in the direction of St. Jürgensland, it goes downhill (I don't want to say downhill), because the place is on the ridge of the Geestrand. Actually, this is almost always a guarantee for scenic beauty and mostly extremely attractive. Here, however, this attraction is completely lost due to the dense settlement. Ritterhude's highlights include an unadorned, renovated mill, which is now municipal property, and the rather sizeable dam from 1309. In 1776 the estate was acquired by the later mayor of Bremen, Georg von Gröning. It is still owned by the family today and is a listed building. After a brief look at the mighty Hammeschleuse from 1876, we enter the rugged landscape of St. Juergensland, which makes our northern German hearts beat faster thanks to its endless expanse and flatness. Yeah, we like that. We walk along the Hamme, which knows nothing but flat land. It flows very slowly here and soon meets the Wümme, exactly on the Lower Saxony / Bremen border. The Hamme has covered 48 km to this point, the Wümme 118 km. And from here both are called Lesum, which flows into the Weser after only 10 km. Thanks to the Ritterhuder lock, the Hamme is tide-free. The Wümme is different, which is precisely for this reason a case of rehabilitation (I repeat here from UBU.03), because it has been severely damaged by the deepening of the Lower Weser river, which continues to this day. Too much water runs off here at low tide, so there are fewer and fewer shallow water areas. This puts the habitats of many insects, fish and water birds at great risk. The Lesum barrage built to protect Hamme and Wümme is a good indicator: Whereas in the 1970s it had to be closed around 20 times a year due to excessive level fluctuations, it is now necessary 120 times. An ecological trend reversal is urgently required.
      Our tour ends at the Wümmeblick restaurant, a place I will forever associate with the wreckage of my large telephoto lens when I landed on my butt in black ice. And now I'm here for the third time this year. After all, nothing has happened twice, so that the place got a positive balance.
      We also completed this stage in two parts because we were traveling with Fosca and Iggy. The first part went from Ihlpohl to Ritterhude, the second from Ritterhude to the Wümmeblick restaurant. The drone recordings of the sunrise over the St. Jürgensland were made 30 minutes before the start in Ihlpohl, we couldn't resist ...

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      • October 17, 2021

  7. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    October 8, 2021

    🌍 Toschi 🐢🐌, Daniel and 199 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      This hike is a hike with ups and downs. First to the depths. The first part from the Bremer-Schweiz golf course (yes, we are here in one of the many Schweitzen in Germany) to Löhnhorst is rather unfriendly to hikers. There are hardly any paths to be found, but there are many deep mud holes. Basically it's off grid. In Löhnhorst we could have made a short detour to Hohehorst if we had hiked two years earlier. I still know Gut Hohehorst, which is located there, as a facility for drug addicts. It was bought in 2016 by a Bremen building contractor and project developer and later withdrawn from the public through massive foreclosure. Hohehorst was the summer residence of the wool manufacturer Lahusen, during the Nazi era a Lebensborn home, after the war an officers' mess for the US Army, then a pulmonary hospital and finally a drug therapy center. The Weser-Kurier reports great interest in Hohehorst and refers to the list of visitor groups in 2019. “Students and scientists did research in the archive, the German-Norwegian Association Bremen found out about the fate of Lebensborn children in Hohehorst, a Dutch photographer visited the estate for a project on the subject of Lebensborn, visitors from Vienna and the USA were looking for traces of family members who were born in Hohehorst in the archive and on the premises. ”In my eyes, a terrible sign of how New Money deals with history . So, instead of going to Hohehorst, we went in the direction of Leuchtenburg, a longer passage on the country road that won't win a beauty prize either. In Leuchtenburg, the hike begins, well, to shine. The coming highlights are stirring. We take a brief but worthwhile look at the Leuchtenburg manor, which is actually a house for a lady. Because the merchant Hermann Gerhard Hegeler built it in 1863 for his English wife based on the model of Lowther Castle in Northern Ireland. In 1905 it became the property of the Albrecht (Bahlsen) family. According to reports, the EU Council President Ursula von Leyen is said to have spent the summer here several times as a child. After intermediate occupancy with Lufthansa flight students since 1971, it can now be rented for private events.
      From there it goes quickly to the Schönebecker Aue, a Geestrandtal valley of great beauty. The eponymous floodplain has its origins in the Osterholz "Langen Heide", and after 18 kilometers and an altitude difference of at least 35 meters, it flows into the Weser in Vegesack. The kingfisher, which is still inaccessible to me, should also appear here. Almost 35 meters, or more precisely 32.5 meters high, is the point that we are heading for next: Friedehorstpark with the, it must be mentioned, the highest natural elevation in Bremen (the garbage mountain in Blockland with the new Metalhenge attraction is 39.5 Meters high), which is even marked with an improvised wooden summit cross. For the sake of this summit storm, we even violate the rule once again not to enter the Bremen area. But what mutt dat mutt. With that, the hike is also over, because the rehabilitation facility Stiftung Friedehorst der Diakonie, which is part of the park, offers just as little for the eyes and mind as the destination Platjenwerbe.
      We completed this stage in two parts because for the first time we had Iggy with us in addition to Fosca, and therefore adjusted the length. Through all of his behavior, he has undoubtedly qualified for further hikes. Basically, as it should be, he oriented himself to Fosca. That made him a really good companion. The first part reached from the starting point to Löhnhorst. In the second part we started today without dogs. The two pictures from the entrance area Hohehorst (# 11, # 12) are archive recordings. We visited the manor house in Leuchtenburg (# 13) before sunrise and took photos after the hike.

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      • October 8, 2021

  8. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    September 30, 2021

    6.18 mi
    1.2 mph
    200 ft
    125 ft
    🌍 Toschi 🐢🐌, Lucia and 189 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      Almost exactly two years ago we decided to go on a trip to Heligoland. You can photograph birds well there, but more on that later. The island is easy to reach from us, as a fairly fast catamaran reaches Heligoland in 70 minutes from Cuxhaven. No sooner said than done, booked, and the first lockdown was there on the scheduled date in spring 2020 (thanks Alex !!!, I hope Mr. Drosten has not read that ...). We then postponed the trip, pretty much exactly into the second lockdown. There was a third hanging game (reason? Well, ...), until we were finally successful in only the fourth attempt. Due to our vaccination certificates, all possibilities were exhausted to prevent us from entering Heligoland. But as soon as we were on the island on Tuesday, 15 minutes after arrival to be precise, we received a message that no longer really shook us: Due to an approaching hurricane low, our ferry to Cuxhaven was canceled on Thursday, so that we will leave on Wednesday noon should. This knowledge then shaped Tuesday. When the weather was pretty nice, we basically walked the entire island, starting on the offshore dune and ending on Long Anna, as if we knew that there was no second day. It didn't really exist either, the weather got worse and then there was the early ferry ...
      You can read a lot about the history and importance of Heligoland, so I will spare myself any explanations at this point. Even now the island was pretty full when the vacation was off, and since the vaccination records were only checked very superficially, there was actually always a somewhat occupied feeling. Something that I didn't know from pre-Corona times. There is a lot of daytime tourism, and since there is still real duty-free here, some candidates of this species cannot get beyond the liquor and tobacco shop. Actually a butter trip with a forced short stay. The local population, which has become a minority (approx. 1,200 people live there), gives the clearly observable impression of disregard and a certain rude unfriendliness. I don't want to rate that. But you have to be able to deal with it, otherwise you should keep your hands off this island. In any case, the people on the East Frisian Islands do not have this train ...
      If you travel to Heligoland to observe animals, that is definitely a very good reason. The gray seals are very easy to observe, you shouldn't get closer than 30 m to them, because they are by no means as cute as they look when they cross a certain close range. We could see that people actually adhered to it. Rare bird species can be observed in large numbers on Heligoland, especially during bird migration. Since they come from sometimes deserted areas, you can often get very close to them. You can actually see birdwatchers standing in groups in front of a group of trees at dawn. They expect some rarity to appear there, and are heavily armed with spotting scopes and telephoto lenses, against which my not even small part looks like the impoverished cousin from the country. We observed wheatear, white wagtail, mountain piper, sandpipers, chaffinches and mountain finches (in unbelievably large flocks), magpies and gannets.
      The hike took place on Tuesday and was reloaded by me today. It was 10 km long and lasted over 5 hours as we enjoyed watching some birds, the gray seals and the sunset extensively. The pictures were taken Tuesday and Wednesday and inserted by hand. Basically, they show a day on Heligoland from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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      • September 30, 2021

  9. Burkhard went for a hike.

    September 22, 2021

    6.26 mi
    2.5 mph
    150 ft
    175 ft
    1. Burkhard

      You drive so often from Syke to Bruchhausen-Vilsen, and you tend to ignore a few things left and right. Hints, most recently from my wife and @CarLa Bra, motivated me to hike the places Süstedt and Uenzen today. Actually it is a place, because Uenzen is part of Süstedt, at least administratively, both belong, there it is again, the nice word, to the "spot" Bruchhausen-Vilsen. Many people don't live here, it should be around 800. A large care facility has a few dozen on top, but that's about it. We are here again in a geestrand area, but also overlook marsh meadows. Here, too, people find their work elsewhere, which is why the village has remained agricultural. The landscape is wavy, I don't want to go for more here, after all, there are real mountaineers among us. It was ok for me. Both places are structurally quite similar, in both there are a number of very elaborately restored courtyards, so that I definitely have to look out for what I am actually looking for, the one that is rather decaying or that has become dignified. But there are still some treasures. Overall, it's the mix that makes it, and that's okay. To be reminded in Uenzen that even such small villages once had a pet shop is irritating. Nowadays I'm not even sure if there is another in a city like Bremen. I also found it remarkable that I only discovered one election poster in Uenzen. From Uenzen it goes back in waves to Süstedt. And did I just say waves? Well, on the outskirts of Süstedt we come across a fairly large ship relatively suddenly, not to say: it appears surprisingly in front of us. A man with a dog gave me initial information about the part, and I also heard from it that not all Süstedter think it is so great. But more on that later.
      My research leads me to a very detailed article in the Weser-Kurier (09/21/2020). I'll spare us all the details at this point, most of it is maritime gibberish anyway. But I can read that the ship is called "Stollergrund", named after a shoal in the Bay of Kiel. It was built in 1925 by the designer and shipbuilder Max Oertz from Holstein. The man was successful, he was probably also the designer of the imperial yacht Meteor. The ship lying in the garden is almost 14 meters long, it came to Süstedt on complicated routes and has not had any water under the keel for years. However, its owner obviously cannot part with the good part that he has owned for 40 years, and so Süstedt has a little puzzling attraction to offer.
      Ships that are dry on land always have something special, sometimes even something crazy, because what is a ship supposed to do without water under the keel? I spontaneously think of D’Annunzio's cruiser Puglia, which he received as a gift from Mussolini in 1923 and which was brought to the La Fida slope in Gardone on Lake Garda in 1925. An absurdity! I also think of Werner Herzog's film Fitzcarraldo, starring Klaus Kinski, in which a ship that is supposed to serve as a means of transport to finance an opera house is pulled dry over a mountain, which actually works. The Peruvian natives helped lift the ship up the mountain because they saw a divine promise in the ship. However, they then also cut the mooring on the new bank so that the ship can fulfill its assumed purpose of sailing into a divine future. That is probably not a bad vision, because I think I have heard that the Süstedter would not be unhappy if the Stollergrund had water under the keel again at another suitable place ...
      The Süstedter Bach is rather unsuitable for this, but it is the home of the Nolteschen Mühle, which is worth seeing, which was built in 1880 as a grain mill, as it was also in service until 1953. In 1999 it was restored by the community and is now used with a turbine to generate electricity.

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      • September 22, 2021

  10. Burkhard and Vissel went for a hike.

    September 8, 2021

    Karin, Ewa und Christof and 194 others like this.
    1. Burkhard

      Today's stage has some special features. We saw attacking crabs, saw a man running across water, more precisely the Weser - and the tour ends with its start. But one after anonther. Let's start with the start, which was also the end. That works, at least in terms of photo technology. The Ochtum Barrage was the goal of the hike today. When we parked a car there, it was about 15 minutes before sunrise, we were greeted by twilight and emerging light of great beauty. We spontaneously decided to take this light with us. What else? And so the first pictures were not taken in Hasbergen, but at the confluence of the Ochtum into the Weser. Only then did we go to Hasbergen, the start of today's stage. Hasbergen is still Delmenhorst, but that shouldn't be a disadvantage for this beautiful place with a watermill, a beautiful church and countless well-tended courtyards. It lies on a ridge (which is where the most beautiful places in northern Germany are often) on the Delme, which flows from here towards Ochtum. There are a number of legends surrounding the name Hasbergen, the most widespread is probably a legend by Ludwig Strackerjan from 1867. According to this, during a storm surge, a horse with a foal, followed by a pack of wolves, got through the floods to safety on a hill. The church (St. Laurentius Church in Hasbergen from 1380) is located on the aforementioned hill. The name Hasbergen is therefore composed of the word part "Has" (from the English horse) and "Berg", ie the hill. Loosely translated, Hasbergen means Roßberg. Another legend is about the Hasberg church bell. In the 17th century, the people of Bremen wanted to acquire the church bell and shot the church with cannons. One bullet hit the church wall, another hit the bell that is said to have been thrown into the lake at Hasport. As a reminder, a cannonball is built into the choir wall of the church (picture # 15). In any case, the place is definitely worth a visit! I also photographed a mushroom in Hasbergen, and I swear that it will be the only one this season…. From Hasbergen it went through meadows and fields towards the Weser. We crossed the Delme, which flows into the Ochtum here. Together with the Hache, the Ochtum is 59 km long and with the water from Varreler Bäke and the Delme a lot of water comes together. After heavy livestock losses during the storm surge in 1962, the Ochtum barrage was built at the confluence of the Ochtum in the Weser. On the way there, we always look at the Bremen steelworks, a visually dominating monster industry. The view there was broken again and again by nature, cattle, anglers and many geese and gray herons. A little excitement arose when Fosca encountered a woolly crab in a defensive position. This species introduced from China (probably through ship hulls) lives in fresh water, but develops in salt water. That is why there is a hike towards the North Sea every year. Incredible, but these crabs cover up to 8 km a day. With the outstretched arms, which are armed with pliers, such a little monster can measure up to 30 cm. The specimen that Fosca found shouldn't be the last to come along either. After the crab spectacle, however, we were downright reverent when we saw a man walking across the water, a few meters later his dog even followed him. But nobody believes the story ...

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      • September 8, 2021

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