|
Christmas is coming…
… and with it the Sammatz Christmas Market!
23/24 Dezember – save the date
|
|
|
Outside it’s so dreary and cold you hardly want to set foot outside the door! Inside you feel much more secure. There’s the smell of cookies and spicy tea, the children laughing as they play in the living room by candlelight, and a soft, comfy chair by the window where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet by yourself.
This longing for contemplation is unimaginable in summer. And yet it is the same every year: during advent, when the days are short and the stars are already shining in the late afternoon, we experience somehow the magical atmosphere of the days before Christmas.
But we have to be careful not to lose this feeling of contemplation. With all the advertising on TV and the Internet, the giant Santas in front of every store, the long wish lists and the worry about decorations, the festive menu and the ‘perfect Christmas’ for the kids, the pre-Christmas mood can easily turn into stress. Christmas should be exactly the opposite of stressful: it should be a calm, conciliatory and contemplative celebration. It’s an invitation to open our hearts to the miracle that took place in Bethlehem two thousand years ago. So, let’s be devout in an ‘awake’ way, instead of getting lost in the Christmas stress.
To get you in the right mood before Christmas Eve, we warmly invite you to this year’s Christmas market at Michaelshof. It’s less about last-minute Christmas presents and more about that special magical atmosphere. Look forward to an international Christmas choir, beautiful lighting, piping-hot drinks, delicious Christmas food and on Saturday the traditional Christmas play, which speaks so wonderfully to the soul. The invitation of course extends to your whole family – let’s have a last pre-Christmas experience that already has a little Christmas Eve magic about it!
|
|
|
Friday, 23.12.
Christmas market from 11:00 -18:00
Café opening hours from von 11:00 -18:00
Saturday 24.12.
Christmas market from 11:00 – 15:30
Café opening hours from 10:00 -16:00
Don’t miss:
our Christmas play on Saturday, 24.12. at 16:00
|
|
|
If you get the chance to fake a few days off in the days before Christmas, the Michaelshof guesthouse is the place to be. Enjoy the tranquillity of the gardens and nature around Sammatz, let yourself be taken away by the festive preparations at Michaelshof or feast comfortably in the café. Be in the middle of it all and yet relax quietly in one of our eight cosy guest rooms – you can book by clicking the button below.
|
|
|
…about a Peronnik walk through the gardens…
|
|
At several places in our gardens, you meet the beautiful wooden sculptures made by artist Waltraud Schroll. Each one has its own character and fits into the gardens in its own way. The kids from Peronnik especially love the giant ‘Easter-island’ style heads at the Waldsee, and the statues representing the ‘Seven Liberal Arts’ in the long grass of the Arena. Many of the children we look after can’t walk by them without commenting on them. For example, J.O. (we’re using initials to protect the young people’s identity) never tires of naming them. Others, like E and L (shown in the pictures below) love to have their picture taken with them. These photos show especially beautifully how many ‘peronniks’ live in their very own universe, especially those with autism. Often it can be challenging to interact with these young people, because of the different way they communicate: some don’t speak at all. But then again there are many times when they are as close to us as anyone can be. All three – J.O, E and L – perceive things in a special way, and have different, special abilities. L, for example, can play melodies simply by ear on his keyboard – an excellent memory characterizes many of our kids in general. What they all have in common is a fine, wise sense of humour, something which is also expressed by the giant heads at the Waldsee. Our autistic children and the wooden figures simply belong together, they seem to reach out their antennas into a very similar world.
|
|
|
The tulip saga, phase one
The report
|
|
|
It is that time again. It’s the end of November, and that means for us… it’s tulip time! Since last Sunday we’ve been going full throttle to get those tulip bulbs in the ground before the weather gets too cold. We gather our forces and then the whole community is in the gardens – pretty much anyone who does not have something important to do slip into the rubber boots and arm ourselves with knee pads and spades. The accounting department, the design team, the construction folks, the IT department, of course the garden team, and many more – we’ve all been outside in the cold and wet, working toward a common goal: planting spring!
|
|
To the volunteers from all over the world we describe the future seas of tulips in bright colors and tell them how many people visit us every year to marvel at the colorful glowing miracle of spring. Many of them already promise to at least visit in March to experience the result of their hard work with all their senses.
|
|
|
|
Caro and Anna ensure successful breaks by preparing punch and coffee every morning for the little warm-up in between. Let’s hope that many, many bulbs are already lying comfortably in the ground and working towards spring in our gardens when you read these lines!
|
|
|
We’d really love to show you…
Cheese from Michaelshof – pure pleasure!
|
|
Sammatz cheese is traditionally made by hand – a lot of time and love goes into our products. Lea and her team process the milk in Demeter quality daily into delicious cheese, cream cheese and yogurt.
The special thing about us is that we process milk from three animals – cow, goat and sheep – and thus have a wide variety of cheeses to offer. From the spicy hard cheese to the tender Schaftaler to the creamy Camembert, there is something for everyone!
|
|
|
Our personal favourites are the Mountain Cheese with its special spiciness that is matured for months, the fine-spicy Pecorino slathered in olive oil, or the all-time favourite of many customers with ties to France: the creamy Pont-l’Évêque.
We recommend that you simply feast your eyes on our display and find YOUR Michaelshof cheese. Our cheeses are sold in nearby markets, in stores in the region, as far away as Hamburg and, of course, in our farm store.
|
|
Michaelshof calendar – the perfect gift!
|
|
Bird World by Finn Seixas
This year the popular bird calendar by Finn Seixas is not to be missed. It tells you stories of the bird expeditions led by Finn, our wildlife educator and bird lover, and decorates your walls with pure nature.
|
|
|
Sammatz Gardens by Radomir Jakubowski
This year the famous nature photographer Radomir Jakubowski was our guest and spent three days in the Sammatz Gardens. In this calendar we have compiled twelve special moments that will inspire you.
|
|
|
|
The ‘Sammatz Garden’ calendar is available as a desk calendar (14x14cm) and in landscape format in DIN A2 or DIN A3.
|
|
Who is still looking for a great Christmas gift? If that’s you, get yourself a calendar! Available now in the farm store at Michaelshof, at the weekly market in Lüneburg and of course in our onlineshop!
|
|
And: on the weekend Café am Michaelshof is open again!
|
|
What could be better than a short walk in the fresh air through the Sammatz gardens and then a hot drink in a comfortable atmosphere? From now on our Café at Michaelshof is open on the weekends with a selected menu. Look forward to delicious cakes, coffee and hearty treats.
Café opening hours:
Sat. & Sun. 12:00-18:00
|
|
|
|
Michaelshof up-to-date – all opening hours at a glance!
Arche-Hof:
Mo-Sun 9:00 – 19:00
Café:
Sa & Sun 12:00 – 18:00
Christmas opening hours:
Friday, 23.12. 11:00 – 18:00
Saturday, 24.12. 10:00 – 16:00
Sunday, 25.12. 12:00 – 18:00
Farmshop:
Mo-Fr 09:30 – 12:00
15:00 – 19:00
Sa, Sun & holidays 10:00 – 19:00
Der WAGEN in Lüneburg:
Wed & Sat 07:00 – 13:00
|
|
|
Saturday, 17.12., 16:00 -22:00
Starry sky in winter
In winter, the stars shine out in glorious clarity, forming the winter hexagon with its brightest stars high in the sky at night. In this seminar we will learn to read the night sky together – indoors with the star chart and outdoors looking up at the clear Sammatz night sky.
|
|
|
Fr. 23. & Sa. 24.12.
Sammatz Christmas Market
At every small cosy stalls you can find beautiful and delicious things, the atmosphere is wonderfully Christmasy and the music rings out on every corner. Let yourself be enchanted by the Sammatz Christmas market with many regional products.
|
|
|
Welcome to a new section of our newsletter! In ‘Do you know…?’ we introduce a member of the community and show you the people behind the scenes of the café, the gardens and the cool volunteer life. Today, meet Claudia.
Claudia is a co-founder of the community at Michaelshof, so she’s a real old hand at Sammatz. She knows what it was like when she and others arrived here 37 years ago, very young and full of ideas for the future.
|
|
|
Everything that’s happened since those early days, she would probably only have thought possible in her dreams. Much has already been realized: a Demeter agriculture, the ‘cultural place in the countryside’ they’ve always dreamed of, with many international people living here, communal living with real friendship and together with the spiritual world. But, of course, there are still dreams to be realized.
Claudia is an educator, so in addition to many adult projects, children and young people are especially close to her heart. At Michaelshof, however, she is an absolute multitasker. She is passionate about medicinal plants and pharmaceutical processes, which is why she founded the medicinal plant manufactory at Michaelshof. But she also loves nature, where she enjoys being out and about with her young Golden Retriever dog ‘Donna’. Claudia is the local rose expert and could spend hours upon hours in the Sammatz gardens. But most of all, she cares about people with their own personal needs and problems. And not to forget: she loves good style – she’s the Sammatz fashion police in person. We all love her very much!
|
|
|
News from the Agriculture Team
The grazing season comes to an end
One of the best things about Demeter farming is grazing. Every morning after milking, the cows head out to the pasture and then back to the barn for milking in the afternoon. When the animals go out to pasture in the spring for the first time after a long winter, it is always a great joy – each one is restless, excited, can hardly wait, and once they have arrived at the pasture, they jump for joy. With the passing of the year also comes the rhythm: the cows stride to the pasture in their inimitable swaying gait; sheep and goats, on the other hand, are more likely to travel in an anticipatory throng. “You get to know the animals in a completely different way when you go out to pasture with them than when you only know them from the barn,” says Saralou from the farm team.
‘In terms of outdoors, we had a good season because it didn’t get cold until late in the year. So we were able to get our animals out to pasture every day until the first snowfall in mid-November. There will still be a warmer day or two when the herds come out, but really the season is over now. We are looking forward to next April when it starts again and of course we’ll share some more nice pictures of green pastures and happy animals with you.
|
|
|
Postcards from Uruguay & Colombia
from Sol and Jesús
|
|
|
Each month we usually profile a former volunteer who is now back in his or her home country, studying abroad or traveling. This time we share with you the goodbye speeches of two volunteers, Sol and Jesús. Every Tuesday, all volunteers and mentors meet in the Blue House and talk about important issues, exchange ideas, welcome new volunteers and say goodbye to those who are now going new ways. It’s not unusual for us to shed a few tears. But listen for yourself:
|
|
Sammatz is the place where I started my gap year and where it’s ending. A year that was everything but not a gap, because it became full of the best things I could’ve wished for.
I’ve been in many beautiful places, I met amazing people, I had a lot of fun, and I’m grateful for all the decisions I’ve made.
But out of everything that happened, what I value the most is the fact that I’ve found “this”. I say “this” because I don’t know how to call it. I don’t know what “this thing” is that I feel.
|
|
|
|
Because yes, I love everything here, people, nature, animals, work. But there’s something else that I can’t explain. I can’t put it in words, nor fully understand it. I just feel it. And I’m aware of how lucky I am to have found the place that makes me feel exactly this way.
|
|
That’s why I know that I will always come back, and I will always love it, no matter how many volunteers there are, no matter the season, if it’s cold or hot, even if there’s no water or no food…:)
When I tell people that I’m going back to Uruguay now, they might think that I’m going to a horrible place, because I’m kind of dramatic and exaggerating, but it’s actually great. I really like it.
It’s just that being here feels so right, that leaving feels very wrong.
– Sol
|
|
This is the second time this year I’m saying goodbye to Sammatz – in total it was 6 months of living here. By now, everyone that I have been in a conversation with already knows that I love Sammatz. Sometimes I exaggerate a little bit and I say that I love this place so much that I want to live here until I get old and die here.
|
|
|
Felipe one day heard me saying this and asked me why I have such an obsession for being here after being in many other countries and experiencing other volunteering opportunities.
Why Sammatz??? That time I could not reply properly, but now I think I have the answer.
|
|
|
Since I have been a child, I remember that I have been lucky enough to be rich, not “money rich”, but “experience rich”. In my short life I have accomplished a lot of stuff, and I feel that I lived everything in early stages already. When you are 23 and feel that you lived and experienced soo many things that life starts to feel boring and your soul starts to feel empty and sad – because nothing can fill you up. And that’s what was happening to me before Sammatz.
|
|
|
This place brings me joy, peace and I feel comfort – it’s like I made Sammatz my home. When I’m here I appreciate the small things and some days just seeing the sun shining fills me up. Or going to work and see that I accomplish a milestone in construction filled me up. My soul is not sad when I’m here. I healed. And I feel that I don’t need to be in a club in Paris at 3 a.m. to feel alive. I just need to walk from Flachsenberg to the Waldsee to recharge myself.
I agree with Sol when she said “This place is a paradise with or without people. Because itself is truly fascinating”.
This is not a goodbye, it’s a little “Tschüss” – see you all next year!
– Jesús
|
|
Would you like to experience what Sol and Jesús just described? Or do you know someone for whom volunteering at Michaelshof would be just the perfect fit? You can simply apply via the button below. Volunteers from Germany are also welcome, and the world will meet you here. Maybe see you soon!
|
|
|
Only the flame is not consumed by the flame
Enthusiasm! We can have it particularly strongly when we’re young. What is there that we don’t want to create, implement, or turn around when we are young! We face our lives with so many ideas and are all too eager to get started, to tackle and to change the world. We are on fire for this, just bubbling over with enthusiasm. Rudolf Steiner was sure that it only takes two really enthusiastic people in a meeting to infect everyone else in the room with their enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm adds something essential to the idea. It leads to the impulse for action, it gives us the strength to follow our ideals, with which it is very directly connected, and to realize them.
What is this power that lies in enthusiasm? And why is it so natural to us, especially in youth?
As is well known, every person grows older with time. Our lives are not always easy, one choice or another leads to disappointment, one or another setback begin to ‘ground’ us. As a result, ideals can fade into the background, and resignation sets in. Many people mistakenly describe this resignation as a sense of reality that increases with age: “You young people! First become as old as we are, then you’ll see where everything leads. Then you will already get to know the reality, the seriousness of life!” In reality however, the resignation that life has brought gnaws away at this “sense of reality”. The source of youth dries up. Why does this happen? What is the reason for allowing oneself to be diverted from one’s ideals to such an extent?
How do enthusiasm and resignation relate to each other – and how do both relate to the experience of life, which does not only have to be painful? Can we manage to carry our ideals throughout our lives? And once we have lost our enthusiasm, how do we get back to it – or it to us? Because it can return, whatever has happened!
Rudolf Steiner speaks in connection with enthusiasm of the fact that we must become ‘flame’ inwardly: “Only the flame is not consumed by the flame.” This flame has each of us in his or her own way. Sometimes a blazing fire that shines far and wide, sometimes calm and clear like the flame of a candle – the important thing is that the flame does not go out!
When we are in possession of enthusiasm, when we can draw from it, we are able to do not only everything possible, but also the impossible. After all, that is what we strive for when we are enthusiastic! And if it is said: “No mortal can achieve this”, then we must, as Novalis says, become immortal!
|
|
+++ NEWSTICKER +++
A few impressions from the everyday community life…
|
|
|
From now on the news will be pictorial. Since recently we’ve been choosing “pictures of the week”. And because some moods are better expressed in pictures than in texts, we’ like to share them with you! These are the winning pictures from the past weeks:
|
|
|
For example, our photographers have captured a wonderful white chard winter landscape and the last roses in the frost.
|
|
|
Matching: The first snowball fight of our volunteers Rebecca and Cynthia. This lunch break was full of joy!
|
|
|
And for all those who missed our ‘Beautiful Sounds’ concert, here are a few small impressions from our guests from Austria with the ‘Goat Song’ and the famous Mamma Mia Trio.
|
|
|
For our team we are looking for committed and dynamic people who like to take on responsibility and enjoy life in the country. Is a meaningful job more important to you than a “9 to 5 job”? Then you are right with us!
|
|
|
We’re looking for specialists or interns in the following areas:
Office:
Hands-on:
- Agriculture
- Horticulture
- Construction
- Janitory
- Pot and greenhouse care
Production
- Market cart seller
- Farm shop
- Bakery
- Confectionery
People & healing
- Pharmacy
- Pedagogy / home education
Your qualification is not listed and you’re interested anyways? Just try!
|
|
What would tulips be like without Oskar?! Right, it would really only be half as exciting. In addition, the wet and cold November weather is Oskar’s feel-good-comfort weather. Now that’s something!
Welcome to a series of images called:
‹Oskar and the Tulip Bulbs – Give that back!›
|
|
|
|
