Im Bann der Jahreszeiten

The end of November heralds the coming of winter with long, frosty nights and increasingly shorter days. At higher altitudes, the first snow is already falling. But before the valleys also disappear under a white blanket, final preparations for winter must be made. Because of the special microclimate, horticulture is practiced longer on the island of Mainau in Lake Constance than elsewhere. There, landscape gardener Senta Trapp is already planning ahead for the coming seasons. In East Frisia, Reinhard Lühring specializes in preserving old cultivated plants. In winter, everything revolves around old varieties of kale. Franz Niederkofler was surprised by the premature onset of winter in the alpine pastures of South Tyrol. He now wants to see if a last harvest of mountain pine is still possible. In the South Tyrolean ski resort of Gitschberg, Hubert Unterkirchner and his colleagues have to check the gondolas particularly meticulously at the start of the season. In the Werdauer Forest in Saxony, forester Uwe Hempel has his busiest time ahead of him, while in Lower Saxony, ornithologist Helmut Kruckenberg is waiting for the wild geese to arrive as they flee the cold in Siberia to the North Sea coast. And in the Camargue, bull breeder Olivier Terroux and his helpers have to drive the free-ranging herds of bulls to winter pastures. The winter heralds herald the next season. Soon the first snow will fall in the valleys as well.