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International Summer at Michaelshof
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In 2023, we will celebrate a record summer in terms of internationality. We are currently opening our doors to over 100 young people between the ages of 16 and 35 from a total of 35 nations. On the one hand, this is a small logistical challenge for us, but it is also incredibly fun!
The lively cultural exchange that Michaelshof brings so many people together for is omnipresent: at work – in the gardens and on the vegetable & medicinal plant fields, on the construction site, in our community kitchen, keeping the place clean or looking after the children – and in our free time there are constant opportunities to make foreign things familiar. Whether in broken English, Spanish or with hands and feet, somehow you can always communicate!
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Our favourite moments?
There are many! Especially great are the evenings when we all come together, at the monthly potluck, where everyone brings food from their country, or at the Open Stage, where we hear and experience talents from all over the world. Or on Tuesday evenings, when all the volunteers of the village get together and tell a little about themselves, where newcomers are welcomed and departing ones are said goodbye.
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But the encounters also happen simply in life, in the many small moments in between. During conversations in the café or on the way to the Blue House, friendships suddenly develop between many often absolutely diverse personalities, across all borders.
This is the moment when we realise that here, in the middle of nowhere in northern Germany, we have created a place where people from all over the world live together peacefully and communally – we would say that the model project has been a success!
Because no matter what they all go on to do, as architects in Brazil, company founders in Italy, cooks in Colombia or as free spirits on a never-ending trip around the world – they all take the experience of community life ‘back then with their friends in Germany’ with them!
A spontaneous Blue House survey on the topic ‘What’s your favourite thing in Sammatz?‘ brought up the following results:
- The people who live here & the community (a whopping 50% of the answers).
- That everything here is so international
- The nature
- Construction!
- The spontaneity
- The work. The fact that you can find out what you love, but never thought of before, and learn a lot
- The food
If you would like to take part in the Sammatz Volunteer Life, please apply on our website or follow us on social media! And from 14 – 18 August you can also get a taste of ‘real volunteer life’ for just one day during Volunter Week! (More on this below.)
On Instagram, @volunteer_sammatz_community features content from Jesús and Sophia about everything that’s happening here. Jesús’ speciality from Colombia is definitely TikTok content, which you can follow on @michaelshof.sammatz. For those who prefer reading in German, we recommend the @sammatzmichaelshof Instagram account.
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Speaking of international: In the mid July we organised our Concierto Internacional in the best mood at Michaelshof. This is a special kind of concert, because we usually don’t know a week in advance who will be performing. It’s all about the creativity and talent of the people who are there for the concert day. Some of them are beloved longterm musicians like Els or Felix; others are visiting for the second or fifth time, like Yonatan on saxophone, Chiara on viola or Camila and João, our volunteer couple from Brazil. Still others are surprise musician discoveries like our ‘Piano Man’ Nicolas or Maria from Greece as an a capella singer.
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Johanna takes up the violin, Christian straps on the accordion and Hans Michel gets the double bass. The choir of the young wilds gets going and Michael unfolds the footrest of the classical guitarist for some fine Bach. And together we set off for a Concierto Internacional without ‘official concert claims’, but with a colourful, fulfilling musical experience!
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So for all those who like it musically unconventional: let’s go to the next concert on 19 August at 7 pm!
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Nature in Sammatz
Once again we take you along on our search for the most worthwile garden at Michaelshof in August. Hannah’s hot tip: ‘The perennial plateau! At the moment it’s really impressive to stroll along there and admire the bright colours, shapes and scents of the perennials. Whether completely enveloped by the big yellow fellows like the Rudbeckia nitida ‘Autumn Sun’, the sunflower ‘Lemon Queen’ or the purple umbellifers that are in full force right now. Even if we let our eyes wander to the smaller perennials – everything is playing so wonderfully together on the perennial plateau right now.’ Anyone who has been there recently can only agree!
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Perennials are unbelievably vigorous plants, because they manage to bloom every year anew, to unfold their plump green and also the brightest colours. The heavy soil gives our perennials the opportunity to grow particularly lush and healthy.
Their companions are the annuals planted in between. So you can get the impression that the filigree ‹girl’s eye› stands almost prancing between the tall grasses and, with many other annuals, forms a colourful, light and graceful contrast to the perennials around it. The many radiant lilies with their intense fragrance, the flowers of the joint flowers, or the purple-red ‹loosestrife› also grow mysteriously along the perennial beds.
So: next time you visit, don’t miss the walk towards the perennial plateau! The best way to do this is in combination with a detour past the dahlia garden, down to the wild and meandering arena, touching the tall grasses of the Miscanthus Gracillimus and into the abundance of the perennial plateau – simply another world, almost paradisiacal, one might say!
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And because the sun doesn’t always shine in Sammatz, we’ll also share a few typical summertime nature stories with you.
Farmer’s Worries
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From the height of his tractor seat, Sven gives us his report on the current harvest situation: “Rain, rain, rain – it’s good for all of us, especially for the groundwater, but for the grain it’s – in plain German – shit. The grain is fully ripened and ready for threshing, but that’s out of the question right now. The quality – proteins and other valuable ingredients – suffers, and the straw, which is still standing outside, is not improved by the wet.
We have already harvested 20 ha of barley, but 30 ha are still standing.
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At least we were able to make really good hay at the beginning of July, when the weather was great. But now nothing helps but to hope for two sunny dry weeks!”
We’re keeping our fingers crossed, Sven & Co!
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Peronnik on the road!
To the four winds…
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When the school holidays come, our children’s home is also on holiday at some point. In the last few years, this has been a steadily growing project where almost all of Peronnik has been on the road together – crazy, happy and also latently stressful two weeks with over 40 people.
This year it’s quite different. Instead of a big caravan, five smaller groups are setting off in different directions: the “little ones” to a lake, a horse-loving team near a western riding stable, two groups to Denmark at different times. And then there is the tenacious cycling team pedalling up the Elbe towards the springs. Most of the holidaymakers sleep in a tent, a few put up in a holiday home.
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A clear plus: we can better cater to the interests of the individual children and age groups – and the stress of coordinating so many people in one spot is also eliminated.
The first teams are back and were quite enthusiastic. The reasons are then as individual as our children themselves: A piano to practice on endlessly while others bathe; sea rescue for boys in a rubber dinghy, real western horses; swimming fun in the rain with high waves; muesli with Danish yoghurt for lunch; cute boys (with a motorbike).
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The fact that tents don’t have walls and that you are definitely woken up in the morning either by the first awake Peronnik child or by the rooster was perhaps less amusing, but it makes you look forward to your own room again.
Next time we’ll report on the rest of the adventures! “Peronnik – everything but boring”.
If you are interested in a job at Peronnik, please contact us! We are looking forward to some fresh company in our team.
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How about …
Summer holiday at Michaelshof?
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You don’t have any plans for your summer holiday yet? Then let’s go to Sammatz! We offer you a relaxing, sustainable holiday in Germany in a beautiful atmosphere! And above all: Michaelshof is super child-friendly and there is something to discover every day! The farm is our children’s magnet, where the little ones love to spend hours watching the baby goats jumping, petting donkeys or watching calves. Our playground Kunterbunt invites you to let off steam and even the gardens are an experience for the whole family, when colourful flowers and small paths nestle enchantingly in the hilly landscape at any time of the year.
Culinary delights are provided by the café at Michaelshof or you can cook in the beautiful communal kitchen in the guest house (with delicious ingredients from the farm, of course).
What are you waiting for? Holiday on the farm is waiting for you!
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Michaelshof Up-To-Date – all opening hours at a glance!
Ark Farm:
Mon-Sun 9.00 – 19.00
Café:
Mon-Fri 8.00 – 18.00
Sat 8.00 – 18.00
Sun 9.30 – 18.00
Farm Shop:
Mon-Sun 10.00 – 19.00
Our WAGEN in Lüneburg:
Wed & Sat 7.00 – 13.00
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Shopping List
What we really want to show you!
Buckwheat Oat Bread
Did someone say: New bread at Michaelshof?! Oh yes! After much demand from you, we have now developed our buckwheat oat bread. Gluten-free and juicy-rustic with tasty grains, the buckwheat oat bread will not only convince those who give wheat a wide berth. Super tasty, super new! (not suitable for allergy)
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Vegetable news in August from Gaby, Daniel und Emmanuel
Team Vegetables has a lot going on this month as well. Brand new in the harvest assortment are the delicious and bright red tomatoes! We are also harvesting the first pumpkins from the field. And then, of course, there are all kinds of delicious summer vegetables, from sugar peas to cucumbers and carrots.
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Go ahead, try our fresh vegetables – in the farm shop or on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the market!
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Also delicious: Sunday brunch at the Café am Michaelshof
On Sundays, we have a hearty brunch – with many delicious products from our own production such as:
- Various types of cheese from the dairy
- Our own sausages, e.g. Salami from Angler red cattle
- Homemade jams
- Delicious homemade bread
We also serve breakfast & scrambled eggs, bacon, various spreads, muesli with our own yoghurt and a large fruit platter and much more. Plus juices and a hot drink of your choice. All organic. All delicious.
Buffet-Price 24,95€.
Reservations are welcome at Café am Michaelshof on 05858 97030!
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Did you know…that our bakery is being thoroughly renovated?
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July brought a lot of changes in our bakery. After 5 years of good service, the faithful self-built clay oven had to give way to renewal: two wood-burning ovens, which offer a lot more space for the many delicious breads we sell in the farm shop and at the market, will take its place.
The farewell was celebrated with an Argentinian pizza night by Gonzalo for the whole community!
Now we are busy demolishing, rebuilding and repositioning. We are looking forward to a new bakery in operation!
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Events & Seminars in August
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Sat. 12. August 12-15
Insect Walk – Wild Bees
Hardly anyone can recognise wild bees, the heroes of pollination, in nature, let alone call them by name (with the exception of bumblebee species). We have to change that! Let’s observe trouser bees and shaggy bees, scan the nests for cuckoos like blood bees and wasp bees, and sharpen our perception when looking for the masked or furrow bees, which are only a few millimetres in size.
Free admission, donations welcome
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Sun. 13. August 15-18
Nature Walk – Ornamental Plants
How about an intensive walk through the lush perennial splendour? We will look at the design of the flower beds in relation to soil conditions as well as the nature of shrubs and grasses or the harmony between different plant constellations. You are invited to an impressive and above all colourful ornamental plant experience!
Free admission, donations welcome
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Mon. 14. – Fri. 18. August 8-17
Volunteer Week – A Week of Community Work
Immerse yourself in volunteer life at Michaelshof. It’s summer and we invite you all to drop in. During the day you can help out in the team from 8-12.30 and from 14-17. At 5 p.m. there will be coffee and cake in the Volunteer Café and every evening there will be a small programme by volunteers and community members for you – from cooking together and country presentations to discussion groups and film evenings, we have put together a colourful programme for you.
Please note: the main language is English, but there is always someone who can translate into Spanish or German.
Free admission, donations welcome
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Sat. 19. – Sun. 20. August 11-17
Volunteer Festival
The Volunteer Festival is the crowning finale of our Volunteer Week. After getting to know each other and exchanging ideas in everyday life, we want to celebrate together on the festival weekend! We will show you the week’s work, organise talks, create open spaces and stages, and hear stories from former and current volunteers. What has changed in their lives? How do they envision the future?
What do we all have in common – whether on the road or not? What does volunteering actually mean in everyday life, maybe even in love? Get ready for a festival full of surprises and wow-moments, with lots of action and also some very quiet situations.
And watch out: the weekend is also an excellent opportunity for guests of all ages to get to know volunteer life at Michaelshof!
Free admission, donations welcome
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Sat. 19. August 19
Concierto Internacional
We invite you to an unconventional concert – because we don’t yet know who will be performing. We will be inspired by the international, creative flair of Michaelshof and its residents! Throughout the year, we have talented musicians in the community who pick up their guitars and jam away in every free minute. We offer you a colourful mix of classical, pop and folk music, or maybe just nonsense.
Free admission, donations welcome
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Sat. 26. August 11-17
Nobody knows. Or maybe yes? Anthroposophy-Talk!
Is there a spiritual world that is always there without us knowing about it? Sleep and death point to another existence, but is this not beyond universal knowledge?
Rudolf Steiner claimed more than 100 years ago that there is only one truth, also in relation to the spiritual, invisible worlds, and called it ‘spiritual science’. Was he a swindler or a genius storyteller? Or a knower, as there have been time and again in the past?
It is a pleasure for us to discuss this. It stimulates us to look a little more closely into the world, to reflect, to move questions. Anthroposophy rethought – exciting, crazy – simply amazing! Let’s go!
Free admission, donations welcome
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“I used to call Sammatz ‘the town inside the village’ because that’s how I felt about life here. And I appreciate that. Now it has become even more of a lived reality! I like the internationality and the life in general at Michaelshof. I like to spend everyday life with the children and my ideal is to create a cosy home for them, with as few morality as possible and a lot of fun. But I also like the diversity of the place.”
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Says Thomas, proving that the roads to Sammatz are sometimes winding. Thomas turned up almost 30 years ago as a young man in one of our seminars. A loving, still somewhat shy person who was on his way to finding himself. He stayed for a while, but then he moved on, became a social worker in Berlin and an established man. The contact was sporadic, but close. A few years ago, he and his partner had to make a change and both came to Sammatz.
Thomas stayed and today, as a social worker, he is a big support at Peronnik.
It is always a refreshing moment to meet him and his wonderfully original troupe on a walk through the village. The atmosphere is as warm as Thomas himself.
His secret? Perhaps relaxation in a place where many others are stressed, a peaceful and warm nature that transfers to those around him. But not only at Peronnik, you can also meet him in the evenings in the preserving team (pickle jars are his speciality), in the cheese cellar or on a poster tour in the area. And if the café needs help preparing the buffet, he’s just around the corner. A community like the Michaelshof is carried by people with this mentality – taking responsibility in one area, but finding the whole thing great, being curious, spontaneous and helpful. Thank you Thomas!
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+++ NEWSTICKER +++
Impressions from everyday life in the Community…
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Potluck in the Blue House and our motivated team ‘GartenLevel99’ after a day of work in the gardens.
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About 1,500 guests visited the family festival weekend – with box climbing records, delicious ice cream, bouncy castle and much more. Despite downpours, an all-round successful event!
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The way to the field in the evening leads directly into the most beautiful sunsets – you think they’re colourful, but they’re even more colourful in real life!
Birders, entomologists and amateur nature photographers in the community share their pictures with us:
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A proud kingfisher, an impressive swallowtail …
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…and lovely goats have particularly caught our eye!
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Open your ears!
This month we take you into our musical world again and link a few songs from the community: Music tips from…
…Hannah: Kartoffelsalat by Suchtpotenzial – a song about friendship, freedom and potato salad! Everybody sing!
…Anna: To keep the summer mood going, listen to Gustav Gans by the Beginners. Lifts the mood instantly!
…Hans-Michel: A favourite song of the Concierto Internacional was definitely ‹Sing about it› – it’s all you have to do!
…Sophia: Super nice Beats by Omah Lay from Nigeria with Soso – a mix of RnB, Soul & Afro Beats – just speak to the soul.
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100 good reasons to donate to Michaelshof!
Dear all, as you may already know, in order to remain so wonderfully colourful, cosmopolitan and innovative – Michaelshof also relies on private donations in addition to the income from our economic sectors. To make your decision to donate a little easier, from now on we will show you another reason to donate to Michaelshof in every newsletter!
Reason No. 2: Free gardens for everyone!
We often hear the question: ‘Why don’t you charge an entrance fee for the gardens? That would be fully justified given the abundance of nature you show here!’ Of course, we think so too, and from time to time we also play with the idea of charging admission fees. But we never get over it and still want to keep our gardens open for EVERYONE – including the family of 7, who simply loves to go to Sammatz at least once a month. To relax, discover, recharge. And above all, to get closer to nature without having to pay for it.
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+ + + Social Worker Wanted! + + +
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We are looking for social workers and motivated career changers for our children’s and youth home ‘Peronnik’. Our currently 38 highly individual children are looking for unconventional, energetic people to accompany them lovingly through the day. It’s definitely not boring at Peronnik – are you in?
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For our team, we are looking for committed and dynamic people who like to take on responsibility and enjoy country life. Is a meaningful activity more important to you than a “9 to 5 job”? Then you’ve come to the right place!
We are looking for skilled workers or interns in the following areas:
Social:
- Teacher
- Educator / Social Worker
Office:
Hands-on:
- Gardener
- Construction Worker
- Janitor
Your qualification is not listed, but you are still interested?
interested? Just give it a try!
Please send your application to claudia.brady@sammatz.de – we’ll be in touch!
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Pssssssst: Newsletter No. 36 – notice anything? That’s three full years of newsletters! Kids, how time flies! And hey – firstly, we’ve told you about life at Michaelshof and other topics that move us every month, secondly, we’ve had a lot of fun because it’s been colourful and funny, and thirdly, we’ve gained a total of almost 3000 subscribers. How nice that we have been able to stay in touch with you.
A big thank you to everyone who scrolls down to the bottom every month (the longest newsletter in the world??) and stays loyal to us in the flood of daily mails.
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Many greetings and see you next time from Anna
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