LJOCHTSTILL | Peat Holes Hans Mâr

My third place of interest is the peat hole area at the western side of the Hans Mâr. To do fieldwork in the Alde Feanen you really need a boat to reach particular parts in the National Park. Like farmers in history, owners can only access their properties in the reedlands by boat. Lucky coincidence I met two of them during my residency and therefore I was able to travel over water to the Hans Mâr. On a small island, once a much bigger parcel of hayland (pré cadastral map, 1820), we had a small conversation. For 90 years now, the houses intended for leisure were rebuilt by family. The owners were, like their ancestors, still enjoying the water-rich environment. We talked about their maintenance regarding the erosion of vulnerable peat dykes and sedimentation of water.

RETROSPECT

Excavated land, reused for water leisure – former borders of haylands now vulnerable peat dykes – once a high moor landscape now a peat-bog environment – extraction of the upper soil layer whereas the soil is scarcely there

– REVERSED LANDSCAPE