On the doorstepback

 

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Compared to the mountaintops of the nearby Bergisches Land, the artificial hill on which we are standing here may not be all that impressive. Still, the bench behind us has all the makings of a favourite place. After all, the reason we climb to great or small heights is the view they offer. Resting on the bench here, we can let our gaze roam at will across the Urdenbacher Kämpe. Since the wetlands are quite flat, we can see everything that makes this place so unique without stirring from our little hill. It's a bit like stepping out of the living room onto the terrace. To the left and right of our hill we can see the long curve of the bank cut by the River Rhine before it changed its course several hundred years ago. This is where the villages of Baumberg, Garath, and Urdenbach are situated. Those trees in the distance only just conceal Haus Bürgel, at the centre of the wetlands, built on ancient Roman foundations. Pollard willows, poplars, and wetland woods punctuate the meadows and fields. It's a peaceful landscape, its greatest beauty possibly unfolding in the evening when the sun goes down in the west. The reeds at the foot of the low hill rustle softly. Is it the wind or some small animal that has found a hiding place here? The peace and quiet is deceptive, however. The nature reserve can change its appearance from one day to the next. Ice and frost may be followed by great floods during which the river claims back its old bed. On those days all we see from here is water. The first hint of green in spring gradually deepens to the rich hues of the fertile wetlands. A summer flood briefly inundates the low-lying areas. Insects dance in the golden light of late summer, and autumn paints the wetlands in a mellow palette – or mutes all colours with its mists which, Christo-like, shroud the pollard willows in grey gossamer. And all this you can see from up here! All you need to do is climb the low hill, sit on the bench, and open your senses to the landscape and its seasons.

Photo: Joschka Meiburgback