Monday 15 March 2010

Lunenburg Heath

A card from part of Lower Saxony, northern Germany.  Most of this area is a nature reserve. It reminds me a little of north Yorkshire around the Pickering area which also is heather moorland.  In fact the sender tells me there are lots of sheep and moorland, a bit like here in Cumbria.  It is also has a temperate climate moderated by the Atlantic, with mild winters, cool summers and precipitation all year round..  Yes we tick all those boxes as well.  There the resemblance ends Luneburger's highest point is 555 feet so no mountains, but it has sessile oak and beech woods just like here.  No wonder the Saxon's felt right at home when they first came to these islands many centuries ago.

One thing we do not have in common is the breed of sheep that inhabits this area, called

Heidschnucke.

One of the nice German 'Blumen' stamps came with this:

This is the the flower Sonnehut or Sun Hat. Isn't that a lovely name and so descriptive of the plant. I'd like a hat like that.  We know it as Rudbeckia or Black Eyed Susan.  I looked in my Kate Greenaway 'Language of Flowers' book and apparently in Victorian times it symbolised Justice.

Thank you Petra from Munster for showing me your world.

Green mark at the top is Lunenburg Heath

2 comments:

Chris Overstreet said...

Certainly looks more English than German, though the architecture on the card is something of a giveaway. Oh, and the German text. :P

Joy said...

I hadn't thought that through had I, the north of england doesn't do open barns either, another give-away. Though that does leave me with the heather, LOL.