Today, Sunday, we have a picknick (German spelling) at the Fürestentum (the principality) of Lord Klaus, brother of Gustav. Klaus is a very cool guy, who for the last 50 years has started his day riding his horse (several generations of horses), then managing the Parfumerie Kobberger (the family industry established by their father after World War II), and playing Lord Klaus during the weekends. The last statement requires some explanation.
Thirteen years ago he had the opportunity of leasing 800 hectares in the Vogelsberg (northeast of Frankfurt) as his very own Jagdgebiet (his hunting preserve). As Lord of the land, he has the responsibility of protecting his farmers (serfs in a Medieval sense) from the depredations of deer (Rhe) and wild pigs (Wildschweine), by hunting down any excess of wildlife that can ruin the crops of wheat, corn, or hops. I should point out that Germans have very cleverly checkerboarded the land into woods and agriculture, so the land looks beautiful and fulfills its environmental function, while still allowing for the development of agriculture. So the blood-thirsty hunters build blinds on stilts at the edge of the forest, and patiently seat on them until a Wildschein or a deer walks unto the agricultural land and happily shoot them down.
This sniping of wildlife goes against the dominant eco spirit of Germans, so there is all sorts of ethical points to cover, such as eating what you kill, gauging the take with the observable population of prey and predators, and helping the framers to do their thing. Klaus is as eco as the next guy, so he keeps strict records on what he and his guests shoot, and is in a way happy that three wild wolfs have made his hunting preserve part of their range (he has about 800 hectares or about 8 square kilometers, whereas a wolf has a range of 100 to 200 square kilometers, so they see the deer become very shy every three months or so.
I got the VIP tour of the Jagdgebiet, and Klaus told me everything there was to know about being an old-fashioned feudal lord. He took me in the four-wheel drive truck all over the boundaries, we sighted a couple of deer (we are in the pairing season), and even drove through his serf town, Wolferborn, in the heart of the only basaltic shield volcano (Miocene) in Germany, The Vogelsberg.
The high point of the day was, however, the picknick, where I had the pleasure to meet again old friends like Andrea and Frank, Aurora and Peter, Siglinde and Lord Klaus, their daughter Catherine (the same Catherine of The Grand Jam), Kerstin and Alex, Titus and Heidi, and friend Sabine. Everyone had brought their dog, so we had more dogs than children, and they were totally spoiled. Europeans in general dote on their dogs, but if I had to be reincarnated as a dog I would like to become Chrissy's dog, who has the best life in the world (being any other German dog would be just fine, as I saw from the way in which my friends look after their dogs).
A German picknick is something to behold. First of all, there is plenty of good beer and good wine, and everyone brings an amazing variety of good bread, vegetables (paprika, cherry tomatoes, and grapes), excellent cheeses, and a wide spectrum of sausages, salami, Presskopf (head cheese), Blutwurst (blood sausage), Leberwürst (liver pathe sausage), and Zungenwurst (pressed tongue). Sometimes there is a grill, but in this case we ate everything raw (preserved in salt and herbs) and I can tell you it went very fast. I love all this kind of food, particularly when it is liberally irrigated with cold beer, Apfelwein (a type of German hard cider), and wine!
I have been struggling with speaking German. I can understand most of what is being said to me, but finding the words and the grammatical structure to participate in the conversation is hard. However, I found that by the third glass of Apfelwine the answers came faster and a bit smoother. Maybe it is all there and just needs a little help to come out. Everyone was so patient and welcoming. Thanks!
In the evening we sat in front of the TV, to watch the final match of the World Cup. Spain was particularly strong in defense and attack, whereas Argentina was not able to sneak through the defense and mount an organized attack. At the end Spain one 1-0, which was their just recompense for a game very well played.
No comments:
Post a Comment