Pictures of an Old SW-German Agricultural Settlement and the Surrounding Landscape

[ficuscarica]

Today I made a long walk through an old agricultural settlement in my area. It is located in a small valley and surrounded by gentle hills with fertile loess soil on which you can find old forests, many fruit trees and wheat and corn fields.

It probably was built by the Celts who kept horses there. Horse keeping has remained popular there ever since.

Enjoy this fine piece of Badisch culture and landscape while I lead you on a tour.




We arrive with the car, take the two dachshunds out of the car and leave the parking lot to enter a lovely countryside.

http://www.abload.de/img/img_302747u80.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_302747u80.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3032a0uml.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3032a0uml.jpg)

It is sunny with a few clouds, 28 degrees. That´s ok, but a bit too warm, as we already start sweating while we enjoy more of the gentle landscape:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3033zuumd.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3033zuumd.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3050r7u4e.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3050r7u4e.jpg)

Finally we arrive in the settlement. It has many old houses with beautiful flowers and gardens:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3068m2uae.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3068m2uae.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3070c0ug0.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3070c0ug0.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3074i1uji.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3074i1uji.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_307586uuj.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_307586uuj.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3084oiugx.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3084oiugx.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_30858xu6p.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_30858xu6p.jpg)


Are you interested in continuing the tour?

[ficuscarica]

Although it is a small settlement there are a couple of houses that are worth being seen:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3088mwu4u.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3088mwu4u.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3089ueuc2.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3089ueuc2.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3092ikulc.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3092ikulc.jpg)

We are enjoying the silent beauty and ask ourselves: is life today so much better, or have we maybe lost much of the beauty of past times?

http://www.abload.de/img/img_3188dbuzc.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3188dbuzc.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_31910cuwy.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_31910cuwy.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3194uiu93.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3194uiu93.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3098cgumg.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3098cgumg.jpg)

[Minesweeper]

Very green and beautiful. Looks very ''warm'' and southern compared to rest of Germany, on first sight.

I guess the ideal temperature of 28C made your walk even more enjoyable.

[ficuscarica]

Minesweeper, actually the landscape there looks rather northern for Badisch standarts. Here is some "southern" looking landscape from my area.
http://palzpix.de/mediapool/71/711327/resources/big_17701588_0_690-310.JPG
http://img.fotocommunity.com/photos/12022261.jpg
http://gerhard.ledwina.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/palme-am-kaiserstuhl1.jpg

[ficuscarica]

We are now leaving the villages to see the surrounding landscape. The little creeks, the sunny climate and the fertile soil have guaranteed successful agriculture for centuries.

http://www.abload.de/img/img_3109oauxe.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3109oauxe.jpg)

On our way we see this dark forest that looks like the Black Forest, but we decide to stay in the open landscape.
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3125puuw4.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3125puuw4.jpg)

The wheat has been harvest for weeks, but the farmers of that settlement have so many fields that there is still some wheat standing.
http://www.abload.de/img/img_31274pud7.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_31274pud7.jpg)

Looking back to the settlement...
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3135lquf3.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3135lquf3.jpg)

... before we encounter a beautiful scenery in the landscape:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3140wfulf.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3140wfulf.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3143tnu12.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3143tnu12.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3145jfu6r.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3145jfu6r.jpg)

[ficuscarica]

A last look to the quiet village, hidden in the hills and a refuge for those who want to escape the hectic, industrialized West German culture.
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3171vkdjy.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3171vkdjy.jpg)
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3175o5d04.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3175o5d04.jpg)

Let´s walk back to the car, enjoying some more beautiful landscape.
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3202dhie3.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3202dhie3.jpg)


Ok, time to go home and post the pics on the Apricity. :)

[Minesweeper]

Vineyards and T. Fortunei palms... and Mediterranean comes to you.:)

Btw, winter destroyed or heavily damaged all nonprotected exotic plants here.

[ficuscarica]

Vineyards and T. Fortunei palms... and Mediterranean comes to you.:)

Btw, winter destroyed or heavily damaged all nonprotected exotic plants here.

I would never switch with the mediterranean. This place is the perfect place to live. We have a good economy and perfect climate with fertile soils (our plants don´t die because of a lack of water and our forests don´t burn down, yet it´s warm and sunny enough to have both southern and central European plants and to live a good life - as you can see :))... if there just were no immigrants and people from other parts of Germany moving here. :(

The last winter was hard here, too. Although some plants received damage my fig trees, pomegrenades and palms look good again.
Trachycarpus fortunei is a bit hard to keep when you have cold winters. Maybe you should protect them a bit.

[Damião de Góis]

Interesting, i thought the roofs north of the Pyrenees were all dark blue

http://img.fotocommunity.com/photos/12022261.jpg

[ficuscarica]

Interesting, i thought the roofs north of the Pyrenees were all dark blue

http://img.fotocommunity.com/photos/12022261.jpg

:confused:

[ficuscarica]

A of the settlement in autumn (not my pic).

I like the atmosphere. The summer and the bright days are over, nature is going to sleep, but in all that you find a quiet beauty and the expectation of cozy winter days with a snowy landscape and a warm house with a bright burning fire. Good old times.... :)

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/20249777.jpg

[Damião de Góis]

:confused:

Yes i get this idea from watching the tour of France. Villages don't have red roofs like your pircture showed, so i thought it would be a southern thing.

http://i2.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens2250287module12437015photo_1225827692fra _01_Untitled-32

http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/limousin-f1588.jpg

[johngaunt]

Looks nice, where about is this, what are the nearest towns etc?

[ficuscarica]

Alex Delarge, there are all kinds of different roofs here. I think the old roofs here usually look similar to "mediterranean" roofs. In other parts of Germany you will find all kinds of roof types.
Even this:
http://www.schweriner-see.de/bilder1/42j.jpg
or this:
http://www.dachdecker-dornheim.de/pics/Schieferdach.jpg

Typical old roof in my area:
http://www.abload.de/img/img_3074i1uji.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=img_3074i1uji.jpg)

[ficuscarica]

Looks nice, where about is this, what are the nearest towns etc?

Near, famous towns would be Strasburg, Karlsruhe, Freiburg or Heidelberg.

[xajapa]

I love the aesthetics of the houses' facades.

[ficuscarica]

I love the aesthetics of the houses' facades.

In this case I would recommend you the videos (Germany - like a fairytale) in this thread:
http://www.theapricity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51520

[Ouistreham]

Yes i get this idea from watching the tour of France. Villages don't have red roofs like your pircture showed, so i thought it would be a southern thing.

http://i2.squidoocdn.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens2250287module12437015photo_1225827692fra _01_Untitled-32

http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/limousin-f1588.jpg

Oh no. Grey slates are used only in areas where that material was readily available, i.e. in half of Britain, of France, of Belgium, and approx. one fifth of Germany (mainly Palatinate and Northern Rhineland).

In Northern Germany and Scandinavia, slates are definitely rare, red tiles are absolutely dominant. See for instance Östersund's Town Hall in Jämtland (Central/Northern Sweden):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/Ostersund_city_hall.jpg/800px-Ostersund_city_hall.jpg

Slate shingles have sort of an "aristocratic" image. Therefore they are used in Lübeck for the towers of the famous Holstentor, but otherwise most buildings have their roofs made of red tiles:

http://www.routard.com/images_contenu/communaute/photos/publi/064/pt63351.jpg

However it's a fact that modern German homes tend to use tiles whose dark colour emulates the look od slate shingles:

http://www.leo-lionni-haus.de/bilder/a_haus_hinten.jpg

Note that in France, in regions where brick is the favourite material, walls and roofs have the same colour, since brick and tiles are made of the same clay:

http://www.fond-ecran-image.fr/galerie-membre/france-loiret/maison-sologne.jpg

http://www.immoclef.fr/Maisons/Photos/Immobilier-Maison-en-vente-Bouvines-380000E-8575-7315.jpg

And don't forget that in Southern France (except in the mountainous districts that remained untouched by Roman influences), Mediterranean flat roofs made of Roman round tiles are largely used, just like in Spain or Italy. Here in Toulouse:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wf9P-iDXirE/T_nY3-jMrCI/AAAAAAAAET4/f7Xr2jWtF-4/s640/Toulouse_toits_depuis_Boulbonne.jpg

[Albion]

Very green and beautiful. Looks very ''warm'' and southern compared to rest of Germany, on first sight.

I guess the ideal temperature of 28C made your walk even more enjoyable.

Yeah, when I think of Germany I tend to think of the coniferous forests and Bavaria too. :D


Lovely place Ficus, it looks like a warmer version of Western England until you see the different architecture and vineyards.
Oh, and there seems to be a few more areas of wood but less hedges.


Vineyards and T. Fortunei palms... and Mediterranean comes to yo

Chusan Palms like it in more temperate place though, I always notice them in winter because they stand out in all the snow but seem to survive just fine.


The last winter was hard here, too. Although some plants received damage my fig trees, pomegrenades and palms look good again.

How many crops of figs do you usually get Ficus? I've heard there can be up to 3 in Southern France but in England we only get 1 (sometimes 2 in good years).


Interesting, i thought the roofs north of the Pyrenees were all dark blue

Not all of them, but the orange roof tiles aren't as common in England as they used to be. Denmark is well known for its orange tiled roofs as is York in England.

[Albion]

Oh no. Grey slates are used only in areas where that material was readily available, i.e. in half of Britain, of France, of Belgium, and approx. one fifth of Germany (mainly Palatinate and Northern Rhineland).


Yes, Wales and Cumbria have a lot of slate and its on a lot of old houses in Western England. People restoring old houses pay a lot more for it than the inferior Chinese stuff that gets imported now, but most people have modern tiles.

[ficuscarica]

Albion, yes, the landscape resembles south England in some areas. Of course there are differences as well. I think I will open a thread about the different landscape types in the upper Rhine valley and the surrounding hills and mountains.

There are different fig varieties, some allow only one crop per year, others will produce two crops here. I think a big tree can produce fruits throughout all summer and autumn, meaning that between the end of July and the end of October there are always some fruits. I am still testing different varieties. I already mentioned what about figs in England. Your winters are mild and I can imagine you getting two Brown Turkey crops when you have a warm and protected place for it.

[Albion]

I am still testing different varieties. I already mentioned what about figs in England. Your winters are mild and I can imagine you getting two Brown Turkey crops when you have a warm and protected place for it.

There's some forming on it now, I think they're next year's crop (breba?). Apparently in Southern France they get so many that people give away buckets full of them. I've joined a forum (http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/) for people interested in them anyway - I've never seen such forums for apples or anything like that, only ever "exotic" (for England) stuff like grapes and figs. :D

[MST3K]

Some of your pictures look like the area around Kaiserstuhl. I love Allgäu.