Schrebergarten I Photo

Photographer’s Note

Here I show you something very German, I think. These are arbours in an allotment-garden colony, in German "Schrebergarten". There's surely no Germany city without several of these Schrebergarten-colonies with up to hundreds of parcels and arbours. There are more than 1 million of these parcels in Germany. They are property of a Schrebergarten-association, which leases the parcels to the members. The rent is about 60 up to 200 € a year. When the parcel is adopted from a previous owner you have to pay a fee of 200 up to 5.000 €, depending on the region and the condition of the garden.

In 1864 the doctor and educationalist Dr. Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber in the German large city Leipzig pointed out the need of city-children of life in greenery and fresh air. His son-in-law and school principal Ernst Hauschild provided an adequate property, where children supervised could play and take care of small gardens. When after some time this duty was neglected, their parents took over this instead of their children and so family gardens came into existence, which by and by were fenced in. They were called "Schreber-gardens".

Today there's a "Bundeskleingartengesetz" (federal allotment law), which amongst others regulates the terms of use. These Schrebergärten, each with a cabin, are without exception well-tended because there's something like a fair competition of the garden owners.

Concerning some Schrebergarten-associations there are long waiting lists for interested gardeners, who want to rent a parcel there. Often they have to wait many years.

It's interesting that government aid for these small gardens even is fixed in the Constitution of my federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen.

My photo shows such a typical Schrebergarten-parcel. The leaseholder obviously is a friend of vegetables, others prefer flowers.

carper, robertosalguero, syd1946, mzmehr, jhm, edal, Janice, huahoa, LEA, ls7902 has marked this note useful

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carper (65622) 2006-08-09 12:32

very nice shot Frank,
well composed shot, nice place, good composition, only one thing, by a shot like this the flag is important, you had to take whole flag in the composition, farther good job.
gr. jaap

syd1946 (17965) 2006-08-09 14:07

Hi Frank,
Beautiful place and nice microcosmos you captured here.You made an excellent composition,colors and light are well seen and natural and that's the result,A very good work!
Best wishes,
Thomas

AandK (1806) 2006-08-09 17:10

Also wirklich, die Fahne haettest du aber schon beachten koennen und sie nicht einfach halb rausschneiden!! Soviel Patriotismus muss sein. Ansonsten sind die Farben wirklich schoen und reichhaltig und es ist schoen nochmal was aus der Heimat zu sehen! Hab auch wieder gepostet! Auf bald...

mzmehr (917) 2006-08-10 0:34 [Comment]

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markstaples (15670) 2006-08-10 2:22

I get a kind of homely warm feeling from this shot. Well chosen POV with the strong diagonals of the vegetable beds. Great quality too.
Well done
Best wishes
Mark

jlynx (11380) 2006-08-10 5:53

Guten Tag Frank,
Here something near to my additional interests. Make no bones about it I did not know the history of this type of gardens in Germany. I know however that similar gardens work in Poland. Appealed very much to me the spacious description close by photoes. The photo is also very good. Splendidly it shows as should look of standard garden plot. You had good lighting due circumstances {conditions} with the fair weather. Herds the beautifully blue sky with white cloudlets. The beautiful green does not evidence the last drought. Nice photo, pleases to me.
Best regards,
Jurek

jhm (83298) 2006-08-10 7:42

Hi Frank,

Also in Belgium we have this small gardens,very pleasant for a small strolls and a talk with the local people. Frank, lines, colours and completely composition is very attractive for looking.

Thanks for sharing,
John

branley (3681) 2006-08-10 8:58

Hallo Frank,

A good POV with the vegetable plots running diagonally across the frame. The colours are good and I like, what is referred to in England as, the garden shed, in the corner. Good to see you managed to get your national flag in the shot. Lovely composition Frank.

Respekt

Stephen

edal (6599) 2006-08-10 12:17

Hallo Frank!
I guess it is very relaxing to work in ein Garten and watch plants grow and even give some useful production. Your photo and explanation are a proof of age-long agricultural tradition. Very sharp and beautiful photo with excellent lighting, helping in achieving vividness of colors!
Danke!
Anton

aralda (1240) 2006-08-10 15:54 [Comment]

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Brian (1) 2006-08-11 12:54

Hey Frank,
I like your picture a lot. I remember seeing these when I was visiting Germany. I thought it was really interesting, because here we don't have this idea here. I think it is a great idea, and a nice way to relax and enjoy yourself. The picture itself is really good. I like your POV, and the composition. I like the flag in the corner. Do you rent a garden?
Brian

huahoa (3691) 2006-08-14 17:01

Hi Frank,
Very interesting document you did and your note is useful too,
i learned today more about the dailylife in your country.
Good sharpness and light.
Well done !
Hoa

LEA (4821) 2006-08-15 12:19

Hello Frank !
What a peaceful place ! When it's not raining, it must a wonderful place to rest.
Your note is very, very interesting.
Is it your "Schrebergarten"?
Greetings from Belgium.