Goats and feathers in the Meisner NaturPark
The Meisner Naturpark lies to the south of Kassel and Gottingen, in the federal state of Hesse, Germany. The area is well known for the legend of Frau Holle, the character from one of the Kinder- und Hausmärchen, the fairy tales collected by the Brothers’ Grimm. Frau Holle, or Old Mother Frost, bestowed good fortune on those who helped her with housework. In making her bed, she shakes out feathers, which fall as ‘snow’; for this reason, when snow falls in Hesse, people say that “Frau Holle is making her bed”. Frau Holle is another version of the goddess Freya of the Norse myths. In the Meisner Naturpark, you can visit Frau Holle Lake, a small reedy pond in a hollow with a cool microclimate. A large wooden carved statue of Frau Holle stands proudly at the far edge of the lake. Apparently she incited anger from some feminists who claimed that the male carver had carved her boobs too generously. Whether it’s the boobs or the proud gaze, the lake is guarded by her presence and she imbues the region with intrigue.
Our group was guided by one of the knowledgeable park rangers, supplemented by the local expertise of ecologist Dr Loos. The park is a well-managed mix of traditional farming practices, calcareous grasslands and subalpine beech and birch forest. Goats are used on hundred-year-old field terraces to graze and maintain rich species diversity. Among other interesting and rare plants, we saw bee orchids (Ophrys spp.), which mimic feeding insects with their dark hooded flowers, attracting real insects to their nectar to obtain pollination services. The plant even uses the same pheromones as the insects themselves in order to attract them. A biological marvel, sitting serenely by the trailside.
In the calcareous grasslands we found classic species; clover, buttercups, birds-foot trefoil, euphorbia, and plenty of insects, including what I thought was a six-spot burnet moth (zygaenid family), but is in fact not six-spotted at all and is a German cousin. As our trail wound through the rocky limestone outcrops, we also heard a yellowhammer,, and found it at eye level sitting in an oak tree.
This limestone can prove fatal to livestock. Coming upon a large sinkhole, we learned of a farmers’ two cattle, pulling a cart, fell through the hole many years ago, almost taking the farmer with them. Their bodies lay on the floor of the limestone shaft for many years. We lay on our bellies on the soft turf, which was full of skipper butterflies and blues, and army-dragged our bodies over to the edge of the hole to peer down and catch a glimpse of a cattle skull (no luck).
As well as the yellowhammer, we saw tree pipits and buzzards, and learned of the presence of eagle owls in the region, although sadly we didn’t encounter them. Up on the highest point of our trail in the subalpine beech forest, we saw thousands and thousands of lupins, which were planted there in the fifties to conceal the damage done to the region from mining and logging. Now the lupins were everywhere, as they are an American species and act semi-invasive in this spot in Germany. In full flower, they did brighten things up, so I can understand the previous park managers’ intentions.
