Anja Steinbuch works as a business journalist for the daily and trade press. "Every destination is the result of a good business idea. This is where my stories are waiting."
Strietfeld near Dalwitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: 40 kilometers to Rostock, 20 to Güstrow. Hamburg is two hours away by car, Berlin too - far enough to leave the daily grind behind, and close enough to treat yourself to a spontaneous weekend break. There are meadows and fields as far as the eye can see, beautifully restored manor houses. And: happy cows. A herd of brown, fluffy cloven-hoofed Red Angus cattle grazes peacefully on a hill.
No other German state has as many castles and manor houses as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. For stressed-out city dwellers, this is a blessing, especially in times of lockdown and coronablues, because nowhere can you decelerate as well as in a cool, spacious manor house.
A cry echoes across a large green pasture. A buzzard? No. A herd of cows appears on the horizon. The trampling and snorting grow louder. Flanking the racing cattle are three riders - gauchos, the cowboys of South America. They herd the cattle into a corral - a fenced-in area. A young animal escapes, is quickly driven back to the herd, managed. Ten spectators watched the scene. They also want to climb into the saddle tomorrow morning to learn how to drive cattle.
In the past, such an undertaking would have been life-threatening. A little more than a hundred years ago, fishing boats with men and mice regularly disappeared without a trace in this strongest tidal current in the world - a whirlpool between the fjords near Bodø in northern Norway. Legends and myths about sea monsters and evil spirits surround this natural phenomenon. But it is "only" a current that is caused by the narrow fjord near Bodø by the tides.
