Soapbox Racing in the Stork Village Bergenhusen

My friends are often living in beautiful, interesting places. Don’t know if I choose them for the place they live or themselves.. I am joking obviously! This time I visited my friends who are living with more than 50 cats. I was already once with them in Denmark. Now they came back to Germany and have a huge house and garden in Bergenhusen.

Bergenhusen is a village in northern Schleswig-Holstein, not really far from the Danish border. It is known as the village of the storks. Here they have nearly on every house a nest. Often really high as they come for many generations every year back to have their chicks.

Storks are long-legged, long-necked and huge birds and they are going on migration. Usually they have one life-partner but it can happen that they change or have a new one after the partner has died.

Bergenhusen is home to one of the biggest white stork colonies in Europe. Up to 20 couples are coming every year to have their children.

Bergenhusen itself is situated ‘in the middle of nowhere’ between Flensburg (Baltic Sea) and Husum (North Sea) in an extremely flat land. Little nice houses, some modern ones, nice little gardens, often full of flowers and garden decorations, some farms around… more idyllic it can’t be. Of course with just 700 inhabitants in the whole parish the traffic is little, storks and humans are undisturbed.

In the flat land there are some smaller rivers, a lot of pools and the storks have plenty to eat.

Bergenhusen is a touristic place as during nesting period buses are coming over, full of people who want to see these huge birds in their habitat. I think this is the only greater disturb they have. This is since the late 80s working. Nearby there is a sanctuary for injured or orphan storks as well.

I came here for a weekend. Unfortunately it was rainy and incredibly cold. On Sunday we just had a short walk around the place. But there was an event as well: soapbox racing!

That reminded me so much my own childhood. The time I lived in my granny’s house I was always with the boys of the area and we often did soapbox racing.

They had a category for every age and youngsters from 4 years old to adults were rolling down the ramp and along the lightly inclined road (the highest point is 13 meters above sea level!). We didn’t wait the outcome of it as it soon started to rain heavily, with stormy wind and still freezing cold.

But I think I got some nice shots especially from storks. It is not easy to get them when they are sitting on their nest as it is much too high. But I definitely love the place and will come back soon.


Bergenhusen, Schleswig-Holstein/Germany:


For further information:
Website of Bergenhusen (in German)


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One Response to Soapbox Racing in the Stork Village Bergenhusen

  1. Pingback: Storks – thebluepolarbear

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