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Mathias Neubauer

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!

Mathias Neubauer's 400-strong flock of sheep makes also the crossing from Hiddensee to Rügen and back once every year. After being allowed to spend an extensive summer season on the Island, exposed to the changeable weather, the barren soils, and of course also the great view, the sheep enjoy the stable life on Rügen in winter. As soon as the grass is high enough and lush green on the meadows in spring, the crossing back to the smaller Island west of Rügen is planned, the animals are unlikely to get seasick now that these annual trips have become routine.

Mathias Neubauer - a native of Rügen - runs a farm and wagoner's yard on Hiddensee. He manages many grassland, dike and heath areas with his sheep. He also offers carriage rides and guided rides across the Island with his horses.
Since his childhood the trained farmer had always had a lot to do with animals, inevitably because his father is a veterinarian. At first, he had found his passion in horses and kept some animals as a hobby but, after the fall of the Berlin Wall - in 1992 to be precise - father and son came up with the idea of setting up a horse farm on the neighbouring Island. When the opportunity to lease land came up, they jumped at the chance and built up an agricultural business in addition to the horse business. They started with horse and suckler cow husbandry. In 2003, however, they restructured their farm a bit and went back to sheep, especially the breed that his father had already kept in GDR times; the Pomeranian Land sheep.

Pomeranian sheep Hiddensee

Pomeranian sheep fit insanely well into this landscape, they are made for the barren and wet soils. Native to Rügen, they certainly do not feel homesick here, a glance to the east is enough and the home Island appears on the horizon. On Hiddensee, they primarily maintain the dikes, they trample the soil, keep the grass short and on the heath areas they prevent scrub encroachment.

LANDSCAPE CHALLENGES

You have to adapt to the climatic conditions on the seahorse-like island when you work with nature. Everything grows a little slower here on the sandy soils. As a result, the sheep can only come out a little later than elsewhere. Mathias Neubauer also needs more area for the animals, as there is simply less growth on the Island. In the meantime, however, he precisely knows his grazing areas and knows when he can move the sheep to which area so that they can get enough food.

"WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH NORDWOLLE FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW AND FOR US IT IS A REALLY SENSIBLE SOLUTION. WE USED TO HAVE A REAL PROBLEM. WHAT DO WE DO WITH THE WOOL? BEFORE WE STARTED WORKING WITH NORDWOLLE WE HAD TO DESTROY THE WOOL BECAUSE WE SIMPLY COULDN’T GET IT DISPOSED AND WE ALWAYS NEEDED STORAGE CAPACITY. WE ARE HAPPY NOW THAT EVEN REGIONALLY SOMETHING IS HAPPENING WITH THE WOOL AND THAT FITS FINE HERE, TOO."

You will find a small flock of Mathias Neubauer's sheep at the dike for maintenance between Kloster and Vitte. There you will find exclusively Pomeranian country sheep. He takes care of these personally - alternating with a colleague. However, the main flock in the south of the Island, is cared for by a permanently employed shepherd. He looks after up to 380 ewes, he works with them to maintain the dikes and heaths and is self-sufficient in decision making. He shepherds where he and the animals drawn to, so that they are doing well.

"I would be happy if young people would go more in this direction again professionally. "