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SOS Kinderdorf, Gut Panker and St. Michaels
Outbound to Leuven & Kiel, Day 22 of 24, September 19, 2018
By: Kathy D
Today was Ute’s day to drive us because Ulrich, who is a Professor Emeritus in economics at Kiel university, was going to be at his office for a few hours. It is a running joke between them whether we are more comfortable in his Mercedes or her VW Golf. Getting to Lutjenburg took a bit longer than a half an hour by car. We had lots of interesting conversation along the way. We are learning so much about their lives and family.
SOS Kinderdorf
The SOS Kinderdorf that we visited was the idea of an Austrian man at the end of the 2nd World War and made its way to Lütjenburg by 1970. The village hosts 45 children in family groups, each one with a full time “mother”. The program gets both public and private support and the “home” that we visited was modern and spacious. Our club was very happy to contribute to its ongoing success.
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| Inside one of the homes, typically 3-6 kids, 1 'mom' |
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| FFSAC and FF Kiel both presented checks to SS Kinderhof |
St Michael’s Church
Next we visited St Michael’s church. It had an impressive altar carvings and the meaning of all the individual sections was explained to us. The carvings and coat-of arms on the loge boxes for those who had contributed heavily to the church were also interesting. After a quick sandwich or ice cream and we were ready for our next adventure.
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| Loge Boxes |
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| Explanation/Interpretation of the Altar Carvings |
Gut Panker
We drove to the manor complex at Gut Panker near the Baltic Sea. It has been owned by the Landgraves of Hessen since the 18th century. We learned all about the Trakehner, a bred of horses that can be seen in the meadows and paddocks there. A fun fact was that this year’s seven foals will be the last to be branded, from now on they will have a chip implanted in their necks. The estate now houses many shops and galleries and we had time to browse or shop.
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| Trakehner horses in pasture |
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| Trakehner Horses - one of these went for 350,000 Euros |
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| Hessan family still uses this mansion |
A historical note - remember in school when you studied the Revolutionary War, and there was something about the Hessian mercenaries? Panker is where they came from. Hessians were German soldiers who served in aid of the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. Around 30,000 fought for the British, forming a quarter of the troops sent to British America. The use of German troops to suppress a rebellion in the British colonies angered the American patriots, and one of the grievances against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was "transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries". And actually they were auxiliaries, not mercenaries. Auxiliaries served their prince and were sent to the aid of another prince, while mercenaries served a foreign prince as individuals. [from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hessian_(soldier) ]
Then it was coffee time at Ole Liese with an assortment of local treats.
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| Tea Time at a Michelin-recommended restaurant |
Ostrich Farm
Our last stop of the afternoon was at an ostrich farm where Ute bought ostrich fillet for our dinner. We had never eaten it before and had heard that it can be tough but the way Ute prepared it was delicious and very tender.
Evening
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| Kathy & Ulrich |
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| Wildlife! |
After dinner we had a lovely walk in the nature area directly behind Ute and Ulrich’s home. Another wonderful day with lovely hosts.
In Friendship and Peace
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