Newsletter XXI

Dear friends of Churchfortress e.V.,
Lords and Ladies,

at our meanwhile traditional winter meeting at the beginning of December we could look back on numerous realized projects and beautiful moments in Hundertbücheln and the Harbachtal and forge many new plans for the new year. Of course we don’t want to withhold all this from you, but one by one. Since the last newsletter we have had a hot autumn in the truest sense of the word:

At the beginning of September, together with Asociația Sapte Brazi and the Stiftung Kirchenburgen, we were able to help in Denndorf / Daia with the sudorific roofing of a barn within the fortified church. The barn was renovated last year as part of the “Hands on Conversation” workshop. We were very happy to help in one of the neighbouring villages and would like to thank all those involved for the good atmosphere and cooperation!

Back in Hundertbücheln it was all about processing, preserving and refining the fruits of the season in time for Thanksgiving. As you already know from the last newsletter, this year (especially thanks to the great help of Ana-Maria) we have created a wonderful garden, which has taken care of us over the whole summer and autumn (despite some gardening misfortunes on our part, not every herb is “weed”…). In order to become master of the autumnal zucchini glut, we went on a search for traditional recipes in the village and baked delicious zucchini cakes together with Aunt Fredi, with Ana-Maria zucchini pancakes and learned many stories about the village-life.

And of course it was not only about eating, but also about other joys of life. So we made Calendula cream again this year (with wax and propolis from Stelika, the beekeeper of the village and with marigolds we planted ourselves), fed the hundreds of beers brewed in spring to visitors from all over Europe and collected and packed all kinds of seeds. And in the meantime there is another precious product made from Movile, beneficial for the afflicted winter soul: Ana-Maria, Anabelle and Paul were busy all year round collecting and drying various herbs and making wonderful teas from them. What could be better for the cold season than a large cup of herbal tea, lime blossom tea, elderberry tea, mint tea or yarrow tea?

We were very happy to present the products from Hundertbücheln afterwards on the mill market in Holzmengen / Hosman. Many thanks to Gabi and Jochen von der Alten Mühle / Moara Veche for the invitation. We are very happy to see every year how many good projects are happening in the Harbachtal and how many people are committed to a good development there.

At the end of September we used the last beautiful days to strengthen our teachers’ house with the first “Toaletă foritficată”. This construction, somewhat unusual in its form, led to wild speculations about its purpose (smoking chamber?!). No! it is our new compost toilet, with a green roof. Probably the most comfortable place of the teacher’s house and probably the only “little place” with such a good view of the church castle. This brings us another important step closer to our goal of soon being able to use the teacher’s house as a social place / „Büchelei“.

In between and besides there happend of course many small projects in mixed groups: There was a big and successful cleaning-action in the village with the children from Movile, with some guests from Munich and surroundings the upper floor of the entrance tower was cleaned (dusty affair) and secured against martens, dry frames for herbs were built, onion plaits braided and in the meantime also some puppies adopted and cared for.

And autumn has also brought an end: As you know, last year we handed over two Mangalitza piglets to a woman from the village. This traditional farm animal breed is rare today because it grows more slowly and has more fat than meat. But it is very robust, the meat is considered very healthy and tastes excellent!  The second Mangalitza was slaughtered in September and the meat was preserved for the winter using traditional techniques under the guidance of expert Movilians.

With the days getting shorter and shorter, a small team has come together to push ahead with the work on the teacher’s house. So now the beam and board ceilings in the rooms are closed again, the roof overhang is protected and the second dormer is also professionally executed. Many thanks to Christian “Wölbi” Wölbinger, who helped us with a lot of knowledge, patience and good music, respectively guided us to help him.

With the visit of the Hundertbüchler meeting in Bad Kissingen the year went into the quiet phase. We were able to report to the HOG (Heimatortgemeinde) Hundertbücheln about our activities this year and exchange information. We were very happy to be a guest there, to see or get to know many Hundertbüchlers again and to make plans for a common project in the next year.

And that brings us to the end of an eventful year. The festive conclusion of our association activities was of course our winter meeting. For three days and three nights we discussed intensively, planned, fulfilled our official duties and of course celebrated a bit. The result is a list of almost fifty small and large projects, which we would like to tackle next year with a lot of motivation and energy.

In order to advance the many projects and to be able to continue working together for a just future for Hundertbücheln and the Harbachtal that preserves the natural resources, we would like to ask you for your financial and/or energetic help. Without our donors inside and the many industrious helpers locally most of the projects would not come to fruition. A heartfelt thank you to all of you who support us!

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a relaxing time between the years.

Your Lords and Ladies from Hunderbücheln, Movile

p.s.: Shortly before the editorial deadline, an exciting detective story took place in Harbachtal in winter: “The Hunt for the Lost Trovant”. More about this in the next newsletter 🙂