On Sunday, we visited the Moor Museum in Moordorf with our friend. The museum presents the difficult 200-year history of the development of an East Frisian moor colony in an unspoiled moor landscape. Rainer was our personal guide. That was great. Kirsten stayed outside with the dog.
The next picture shows the roofs made from different types of straw.
On the left of the picture you can see long rye straw.
It was very cheap and available everywhere at the time. It only lasted 10-20 years. Today it is difficult to find rye straw of the right length, because today there is shortened rye and almost nobody grows long rye straw anymore.
On the right in the picture you should actually see the reed thatch.
It is very expensive today as it is imported in large quantities from Eastern European countries. It is almost no longer grown in East Frisia itself. But it lasts for up to fifty years.
Clay houses like this were still being built until the 1920s. Some were built with a chimney and separate stables. Others with an open fireplace and the animals in the house.
Black peat was extracted from the moors for fuel. The white peat was processed by the “Moormenschen” so that they could then sell it to the “Stadtmenschen” as fertilizer.
It was hard work to extract peat. Every day, 4500 pieces of peat were dug up. Even the children had to help. The peat was dug out of the moor from top to bottom with spades or other tools and then dried. This work was therefore only suitable in summer.
This raised bog was impassable, wet, wild and is now around 8000-10000 years old.
In 1765, the nameless raised bog was given the name “royal raised bog” and the first settlers settled in the inaccessible moorland.
The soil was drained by the construction of the canals, allowing houses to be built, towns/villages and farmland to be established.
In the past, all places with “fehn” in their name and also today’s Fehn areas were raised bogs.
Fehn comes from the Dutch (Veen = moor). This can also be recognized by the direct location of the canal/weirs.
Over the last 30 years, this adobe house has become so saggy that you can no longer enter it.
Back then, they lasted a lifetime. About 50 years.
The inhabitants drew their water from such wells, which were built into the deep ground.
This filtered the water through the peat so that it could be used as drinking water.
This house was built in 1925 and cost 85 Reichsmarks.
Up to twelve people lived in this house at times.
There were two bedrooms, an internal chimney on the gable wall, two external doors and a spacious stable. The toilet (outhouse) was also located in the stable.
This original bell hung in the ridge turret of the Martin Luther Church from 1893-1908. The church was then given a new bell tower and two new bells.
The East Frisian barometer.
The 19th century style farm worker’s house was built very late by the settlers as they did not have the financial means.
The size of the house and the building materials were very different from the others. These farm workers’ houses showed the wealth of the owners.
This house had stood 7 km away since 1844 and was still inhabited until 1979.
It was demolished at its former location in 1980 and rebuilt here in the museum in 1981.
The house has a so-called Karnhaus (utility room). It was effectively the laundry room of the farm workers’ house. Water was fetched from the well outside and the waste water was simply swept outside through a hole in the wall.
In the 1900s, the construction method slowly changed. The colonists’ house was also built from clay. However, bricks from demolished houses or dilapidated monasteries and churches were used on the outer walls.
The thatched roof also disappeared and handmade clay tiles were used. Only the clay foundation walls remained from the old construction method.
Over time, the barns also became increasingly spacious.
The cookhouse is separate from the main building. Laundry was washed there and potatoes and carrots were cooked for the pigs. The large pot was used for all sorts of different purposes.
The waiting school of Moordorf 1881-1895.
The pastor Daniel Beer founded the waiting school. He took care of the colonists who were struggling to earn an income as day laborers or were busy cutting peat. Everyone had to help, even the older children. This meant that the youngest children were often left unattended.
The waiting school was something like a kindergarten or pre-school today.
This museum is really highly recommended. We really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. A big thank you goes to Rainer, our “local guide”.
Afterwards they took us to the traditional East Frisian teetied (tea time) including cake.
A cozy tea party with Kluntje and Wulkje is simply part of a genuine East Frisian day.
The tea is drunk from a characteristic tea service with the “East Frisian rose”. Unfortunately, this beautiful service is not available here. However, I have included a photo of another tea service so that you know which beautiful service we are actually talking about.
In East Frisia, tea is not just drunk, it is a real ceremony.
First of all, a large piece of Kluntje (rock candy) is placed in the cup.
Only when all the cups have been filled with Kluntje is the tea slowly poured in after a brewing time of at least five minutes. The cracking of the rock candy indicates that the tea was hot enough.
In the final step, the cream is then applied to the inside of the cup with a tiny ladle in an anti-clockwise direction. The East Frisians stop time so that they can pause for a moment and give their full attention to what is happening in the cup, which is triggered by the cream.
The host always pours the first cup. After all, he has to check whether the tea is really successful. Then the guests can also enjoy the tea. Three cups of tea is “East Frisian law”. The tea is not stirred, but sipped through the three layers of tea: first the cream, then the bitter tea and finally the sugar-sweet candy. As the tea is not stirred, one large piece of rock candy is usually enough for all three cups.
Even the spoon has a special meaning. It is not intended for stirring. It indicates to the host that no further tea is desired. So if you haven’t put the spoon in the cup after the third cup, you will be given more tea without being asked.
What a great tradition.
In the video you can see why you stop time and pay all your attention to the famous and fascinating “Wulkje” (cream clouds) created by the cream.
We spent the rest of the day at the pitch with our vehicles.
My girlfriend gave me a decent haircut and tried to salvage what I had messed up 🙈
She also cooked ham noodles for us all. We ended the evening comfortably with wine, beer, schnapps and snacks.
On our last day together, we strolled around the harbor area in Leer.
Of course, we also had a cozy tea party today with the typical East Frisian cake.
After 3 wonderful days, it was time for us to move on.
We really enjoyed our time together. The wonderful activities and also just sitting by the lake, talking and enjoying the time together was wonderful.
Many thanks to you both. As always when we see each other, you spoiled us completely. Thank you for simply EVERYTHING. We are already looking forward to seeing you again, sometime, somewhere!
However, before we finally go back to our family and children, we made one last visit to Dortmund. Another dear friend we met in Portugal.
We had booked a large pitch for three nights in advance because our friend informed us that the cattle market was starting on Thursday. The biggest local festival in North Hesse.
But that also means that lots of people from all over will be coming to the festival and the pitches will probably be overcrowded.
After floods in the Twiste, Diemel and Weser rivers caused millions in damage in 1965, the Hessian Diemel Water Association was founded in September 1969.
In 1972, the construction of the Twistetal dam, which is over 20 m high, began as flood protection.
However, the Twistesee not only offers protection from flooding, but also offers a wide range of leisure activities.
The joy of seeing each other again was great this time too.
Our dear friend had come by car to pick us up from the pitch.
She took us on a little sightseeing tour by car. Afterwards, she showed us her great apartment and then we went for an iced coffee.
Her daughter also came with the camper van and her two boys to the same pitch where we were parked and while Renate picked up the three of them by car, Alex and I went for a walk through the town of Bad Arolsen.
Bad Arolsen was the residence of the counts and princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont from 1655 to 1918 and then the capital of the Free State of Waldeck until 1929, before it lost its independence when it was annexed by Prussia.
The town has many historic buildings built in the Baroque style. It is also known as the Baroque town.
Workplace of the stonemasons.
The sandstone wall was once the town wall.
The Residenzschloss is a baroque palace. It is a three-winged complex with an English garden.
The castle pond was fed by the Leitegraben, which carried drinking water from the Tiehletal valley to the town.
The boathouse, with its special construction, was used by the elegant court society to safely board the boats.
In the evening we went out for dinner and then for a beer at the local festival. Most of the stalls and rides were closed today. Only a few food and drink stalls were open. The real party starts tomorrow.
Of course, our friend insisted on driving back to our WENNE.
We arranged to meet at her house the next day. This time, however, we preferred to walk the hour or so to her place.
The walk to our friend’s house was really nice. After an hour and fifteen minutes, we arrived at her place and got something to eat for lunch.
Later on, we went to the home festival parade.
The Arolsen home festival is the traditional market and cattle market and takes place every year in August.
There is a parade, musicians, business people, companies, clubs, farmers, institutions such as the hospital, care for the elderly, deaconry and many more take part in the parade and we had the feeling that they were all advertising themselves. Perhaps that is the intention. Sweets and promotional materials are given away. Some of the processions also had beer and schnapps.
Afterwards we ate and drank something there, strolled through the market stalls and rides, how beautiful these old-fashioned rides are.
Later, we said goodbye to our dear friend and took a leisurely one-hour walk back to WENNE.
A big thank you goes to our friend Renate, it was great to have met you again. Thank you for telling us so much about your city and for being our cab. It was very interesting and really nice with you.
Thank you for taking the time for us. Thank you for everything! We are already looking forward to our next reunion.
After we wanted to pick out our next day’s stage on Friday, we realized that we would be roughly on the same level as my aunt and uncle. I contacted her immediately and we were delighted that she had time for us at such short notice.
As always, we received a warm welcome.
We stayed with them over the weekend. There was a lot to talk about. Once again, we were spoiled with breakfast, dinner, coffee, other drinks and much more.
My cousins also came over with their friends. It was also great to see my 1-week-old great cousin.
It was a wonderful two days. Thank you so much for everything.
