(PICTURES TO FOLLOW – INTERNET TOO SLOW!!) After 70 kilometres, we arrive in the little village of Niebendorf to stay with Christian, Ben, Lucia, Virginia in the gardens of Ventus e V. It is a group of fantastic people who are giving a few teenagers a chance to try an alternative psychiatric health treatment, living close to nature and lowering their medication. We had a wonderful sunset as we celebrated Katy’s birthday with an Austrian cherry cake cooked on the rocket stove with cherries from trees passed on the long day’s ride. Christian made us a little campfire with a…

Continue reading

L’energia flueix com la vida, there’s just something in the air que j’ai jamais entendu; c’est l’amour, c’est la colere maybe is only the smile in the face. But it needs to be done com una ploma que bat les ales; pero nunca encuentra su sitio where to rest just for a bit. It’s the sun going down but not the feeling of being alive, feel the freedom in your fingers comme la lune et les étoiles. Let me be your flame again. Gemma Gelabert Gonzalo (català, español, english, français)

Continue reading

We woke early for breakfast at 8pm, and then joined a tour of the campus. After the tour some people helped in the garden whilst others swam in the pool, or relaxed, before we met the community for an information exchange. After lunch, we cycled into town, just 2 km, to the local refugee project, Der Winkel, info cafe, a project also connected to the ZEGG. There we cooked with some people from the project, a traditional African feast, and listened to some of the stories from two brothers now living in Bal Belzig, who are fighting for asylum in…

Continue reading

Fuer Fluechtlinge, wie diejenigen, die wir in Bad Belzig getroffen haben, ist die Grenze zwischen Stadt und Land eine, die fuer sie noch viel mehr von Bedeutung ist, als fuer Menschen mit nicht-eingeschraenkter Bewegungsfreiheit – fuer welche ja die Stadt-Land-Unterschiede auch sichtbar, aber nicht unbedingt lebensentscheidend sein koennen. Denn wer als Asysuchender_r nach deutschem Recht innerhalb der “Kreisgrenzen” einer kreisfreien Stadt (z.B. Berlin) gefangen ist, hat dort andere Moeglichkeiten und findet weitreichendere Strukturen, als innerhalb der Kreisgrenzen duenn besiedelter laendlicher Gegenden.

Continue reading

A coal-fired power station, a Hitler youth camp and a Stazi centre for international espionage. None of these things could be further from the Zegg – a Centre for Experimental Culture Design based in Bad Belzig in East Germany. It’s difficult to believe in the site’s dark history as Nadia, our guide, walks us through the quiet organic gardens. The peaceful, leafy site has more the feel of a former university campus – with cottages dotted about next to car-free paths, the extravagant canteen and admittedly musty library and seminar centre – a smell typical, Nadia informs us, of former…

Continue reading

Account 1) The cycling day to Bad Belzig was meant to be a straight forward ride along the R1 cycle path, follwing the potsdam lakes and forrest. For some of us it was, including a swim, but for the food crew, they had a broken axel only 10 kms into ther route, so they had to redistribute the food and replace the axel. People ahead then rearranged lunch, and we cycled an extra 8km to a new lunch spot. The afternoon was less stressful, and even more beautiful then the first, as we obviously were leaving the tourist track of…

Continue reading