As children we used to know a little song, a lullaby with an odd and sad text, whose origins come from way before the 19th and 20th centuries and their wars:
"Maikäfer, flieg!
dein Vater ist im Krieg,
dein Mutter ist in Pommerland,
Pommerland ist abgebrannt,
Maikäfer, flieg!"
Therefore Pommerland in my subconscious mind was a destroyed land, lost long ago, burnt down and barren and bleak after centuries of wars, gone forever, where kids lose their parents and orphans pack up their things, spread their wings and fly away to a better future. Later we learnt that Pomerania was somewhere behind the Iron Curtain and we envisioned grey cities and pale workers. But today, and for the last 26 years, part of Pommerland - Western Pomerania - is back in a united Germany, and an area of such beauty that it took us completely by surprise. We regret not having explored this region earlier, but it is "in the middle of nowhere" as they say, a long way off the busy centres of Germany. This "nowhere" has such an enchanting and calming quality of quiet and peace, wide skies and silence, that I had before only experienced in Africa on safari : this feeling where you stand in peace and awe under the wide skies, breathe in, breathe out, let your shoulders drop and relax and think: yes, this is it, this is where I come from, this is in my bones!
Three hours northeast of Berlin towards the border with Poland in Vorpommern lies a vast and sparsely populated area of extreme natural beauty, the Peene valley. The river Peene is a tributary to the Oder which joins the Baltic Sea a little further to the north in an extended delta. It is characterized by regular flooding, a large fen area with rare plants and birds and opportunities to see beavers at work.
Parts of the river have been naturalized only recently to enlargen the protected area and introduce some soft tourism. Cultivated areas have been left to their own devices, flood barriers have been removed, trenches filled and formerly dry elevated polders turned into marshland again. This region (http://www.naturpark-flusslandschaft-peenetal.de) offers outstanding possibilities for observation of fish and sea eagle and other rare species that I have not encountered in Germany in such numbers before.
A gradual flooding of former forests has given rise to some very unusual sights:
early morning on the Peene
A few resident European cranes (Grus grus) by the side of the road sounding their trumpet-like piercing calls:
Storks can be seen on many fields behind ploughs in August waiting for what is turned up:
We enjoyed a stopover at Gutshaus Stolpe (another place with a Michelin-starred restaurant) and spontaneously decided to come back to this area when we would have a little more time, when the northern bird migration passes through in October. An exciting bird and beaver safari on a boat seems a real option here!
fresh fish
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