Menschen

Loud bleating, bleating and barking can be heard as one approaches the barn of the Kolecki sheep farm in Schönwalde near Berlin. A harmonious mix of endangered country sheep, guard dogs and goats enlivens the stables building. The ewes are awaiting their lambs, it is lambing season.

The Lower Oder Valley stretches out before the gates of Schwedt and here the eyes lavishes on vastness that is rarely found these days. The stillness of the landscape is impressive; this is the home of Gunda Jung a shepherdess for 26 years.

In an ancient farm in the middle of rural Vorpommern everywhere you look, all you see is fields very large fields. In autumn, thousands of cranes rest here. The Peene River runs in a north-easterly direction and to see it you have to cross one of these fields. But then there is pure silence, the silence of nature.

The first heat of summer is burning down on the hilly, structure-rich landscape south of Rostock. The wandering shepherd of Gut Wardow is currently staying in the middle of nowhere with his flock of Pomeranian, Texel and Suffolk sheep. Not even the noise of the next busy road can be heard, only the cud-chewing of the animals which has a very calming effect.

On the former border strip at the Schaalsee - the so-called death strip - you now find sheep instead of mines; the green strip that used to separate East and West Germany runs through the entire country. To this day it is almost completely undeveloped. And to prevent the landscape from becoming overgrown, it is grazed by flocks of sheep among others by flocks of our shepherd Detlef Mohr.

Last June, Anja and Rolf Böckmann from Schleswig-Holstein set out for Rügen with an empty van, their goal was to return in the evening with a full vehicle. For they had fallen hard in love months before with the gray-wool Pomeranian country sheep.

A trip to Hiddensee decelerates the everyday life; you can only get to the Island by ship or water taxi. Getting around on the Island itself is rather leisurely on foot, by bicycle or by horse-drawn carriage. Hiddensee has always been car-free!

Grey clouds drift in the sky above the sheep pasture in Möllenhagen, Mecklenburg, on this Monday in April. The harsh "kjack" of jackdaws in the neighbouring marsh mingles with the "mäh" and "bäh" of sheep. Otherwise, only the wind can be heard.

It was love at first sight. Anke Mückenheim from Schleswig-Holstein, a trained shepherdess, was one of the first breeders of the Pomeranian Land sheep in Germany. For the past 3 years, however, she has been in a long-distance relationship. Her sheep are in Schönwalde, with her colleague Olaf Kolecki.