Tour Report: Brick Factory A.

In mid-April 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had Germany firmly in its grip. The first nationwide lockdown had been in place for around four weeks, and it was expected to last a good two weeks before the first slight easing.

It was spring - a very sunny spring with correspondingly high temperatures; Easter a week earlier had even brought a few summer days with it.

In the three weeks since our last tour, we had hardly left our yard, so we were anxious to get out of the house again. I looked for a place to go - not too far, since due to the lockdwon, we weren't allowed to leave the state - and came across a brick factory that I had visited once in 2014. The news said that the property had been sold and was soon to be developed.

So we decided to pay a revisit to this place.

It was a short drive - after just under an hour we were there and looking for a parking space. It was quickly found. There were a few commercial buildings at the eastern end of the brickworks site, and as it was Sunday, the parking lots were empty and available to us. To get onto the site, we just had to climb over a small embankment - and we were standing right in front of the brickworks' materials warehouse.

We explored the entire place with the exception of the manufacturer's villa, which was unfortunately completely locked and secured.

Due to the beautiful weather, we took our time and explored the whole site at our leisure.

I particularly liked two motifs on this trip: the materials store with the little “houses” and the room with the water basin where the clay for the bricks was prepared. The water in the basin shimmered in the sunlight in all sorts of bright colors - probably due to algae, perhaps also due to pollution or contaminated soil.

Towards the end, we met two other people who had used the beautiful day to escape the confines of the lockdown - other than that we were completely alone the entire time. It was a nice short trip and a good opportunity to get out of the house again.

To find out about the history of the place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Tour Report: The Theater of Nature

At the beginning of April 2020, Germany was in the middle of the first CoViD lockdown. However, our need for wild garlic did not want to be subordinated to this regulation, so we set off to our traditional collection point in defiance of death, so to speak.

From the end of February to the end of April (depending on when the flowering season begins) you can harvest fantastic wild garlic around the then abandoned open-air stage - there are fields of it there! And in the end, it's only about an hour's drive through the beautiful northern German countryside.

So we set off and parked the car in the legal parking lot, which was also used by other collectors. However, we must have had a good day because there was very little going on. We met the occasional walker and a few wild garlic collectors, so we had our peace and quiet when we finally entered the deserted open-air stage.

I can't help myself - even though the motif is the same every time, it's a little different every time - be it the weather, the light or the amount of plants that have spread out between the rows of seats.

So of course I took a few pictures. The area is now in use again - but I'll report on that in the next post from this location - so it may take a while ;)

To find out about the history of this place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.

Tour Report: Nuclear Weapons Depot K.

About two weeks after the start of the first CoViD lockdown in March 2020, the ceiling started to fall on our heads. It was time for us to get out again, so we set off.
As it wasn't allowed to leave the state and contact with other people was potentially harmful, we looked for a far-flung location nearby.
Our choice fell on the abandoned American nuclear weapons depot, which we had visited several times in the past - mostly to celebrate New Year's Eve with light painting in one of the large weapons bunkers.
The last time we explored the site in daylight was in May 2013, about seven years earlier.

As every time, we parked next to the barrier that originally marked the border to the outer protective area of the weapons camp. From there, it is about a two-kilometre walk to the armory and the weapons bunkers.

As the site is an official recreational area, you can move around without any problems and don't have to worry about being bothered by security guards or the police. We soon realized that we weren't the only ones who wanted to take advantage of the old military site for an excursion with as little contact as possible.

The weather was sunny and you could literally smell that spring was in the starting blocks, just waiting to get going. Of course, some families took advantage of this beautiful day to go on excursions, as far as they were possible and permitted.

People were relatively well spread out on the large grounds, so that we didn't meet many other people and we had our peace and quiet. And we made the most of this peace and quiet, taking plenty of time to explore every corner of the site. I don't remember how long we were out and about, but I think it was probably a good two to three hours before we made our way back to the car and drove home.

To find out about the history of this place and to check out all the photos, click the button below.