Gut Adolphshof
The Good Adolphshof is a former farm and today's farm at Hämelerwald in Lower Saxony . The namesake was Adolph von Cambridge , governor of the Kingdom of Hanover . The Adolphshof is the oldest organically managed farm in the Hanover region . As early as 1952 he was converted to the biodynamic farming method. Today the farm has around 130 hectares of arable and animal husbandry (cows, pigs, sheep, goats) as well as a socio-therapeutic facility with supervised persons. The products are processed in a cheese dairy and a bakery and marketed directly under the Demeter brand . Around 100 people live on the listed Adolphshof and form a family-like farm community.
location
The Adolphshof is located about 2.5 km south of the center of Hämelerwald . It is located on the L 413 state road between Hämelerwald and Equord . The courtyard is located about 250 m east of the road in the middle of extensive meadows and fields. Hedges, parks and forest-like trees surround the courtyard. It lies between the forest areas Hämeler Wald in the west and Hain in the east.
Soil conditions
The farm and its lands are located on the Dolger Heide between Schwicheldt and Dolgen . It lies in the border area of the sandy, heather-like Burgdorf-Peiner Geest in the north and the fertile loess soil of the Hildesheimer Börde in the south. In this intermediate zone, the Dolger Heide lies as a terminal moraine several kilometers wide from the Ice Age . On it there are strongly changing soil conditions with sandy loam and heavy clay soils with impermeable clay slate deposits . In earlier times, the area could not be used as arable land because of the waterlogged subsoil. Similar soil conditions prevail in the nearby Hämeler Forest , which has therefore been saved from deforestation .
When the Adolphshof estate was established at the beginning of the 19th century, the land could only be used as pasture for cattle . The pasture was used as common land by the surrounding villages. From around 1830, the founder of the estate had clay pipes laid in the ground for drainage , which made agriculture possible in the first place. The drainage pipes were initially made manually, but in 1851 a machine from England was used. A brick factory was in operation on the estate until 1907 for the burning of clay pipes and bricks for building houses .
Courtyard
The buildings of the manor are arranged in a rectangle around the farm yard. The ensemble consists of about seven buildings with historical structures, including stables, residential buildings for the farm workers and the manor house from 1855. Since 1987, the Adolphshof has been a listed building as an exemplary manor complex from the late 19th century . Building modernization began in 1996 with the renovation of the coach house . In 1999 the first new building for a residential group for people with disabilities took place. In the years 2006–2009, large buildings were added as residential buildings for the socio-therapeutic facility and as a workshop. Today the farm accommodates around 100 people in four houses who use the socio-therapeutic facilities.
The farm includes 8 hectares of forest, 5 km of hedges , nine ponds, parks and a plantation with 700 fruit trees of old varieties. There has been a solar system since 1981 . The wastewater has been clarified in a plant-based treatment plant since 1992 .
Organization and farm community
The Adolphshof has not been privately owned since 1995. At that time, ownership went to the association “Non-profit agricultural research company for biodynamic agriculture Hämelerwald e. V. “(GLF) about.
The HB Foundation Berneburg gGmbH has been the sponsor of Gut Adolphshof since 2018 . She leases the farm and the land to the "Gut Adolphshof operating community" and some areas to the "Gut Adolphshof Sozialtherapie gGmbH". There are currently three areas of work and life at Gut Adolphshof:
- Agriculture with marketing (tenant)
- Social therapy with a social therapeutic facility with 45 places (tenant)
- Educational work with a focus on agriculture and nutrition (by the HB Foundation Berneburg)
A total of around 120 people live in different buildings on the farm. Community service and the Voluntary Ecological Year can be done on the farm . The Adolphshof is funded by the Lower Saxony State Foundation and the City of Hanover.
Educational work
As a historically grown farm, the Adolphshof gives its visitors an insight into agriculture. He offers tours of the farm and project days for schoolchildren. Since 1993 it has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture as an extracurricular learning location. The farm belongs to the "Federal Association of Farms as a Learning Place". As a demonstration company for organic farming , it also offers information about organic farming for consumers, schoolchildren, farmers, dealers and journalists.
The farm is opened to the public annually with a farm festival in May and an apple festival in autumn. There are also cultural events, such as music concerts as part of the Masala Festival .
Production and Marketing
Grain and fodder are produced on around 90 hectares of arable land. Animal husbandry with on-farm processing is carried out on around 30 hectares of pasture. Around 40 dairy cows ( Red Holstein and Black Holstein ), 60 cattle , 100 goats , 100 pigs and 10 bee colonies are kept.
Products are milk and dairy products, meat and sausage, cereals and cereal products as well as natural food products such as honey in accordance with the Demeter guidelines. But cosmetics and cleaning agents are also offered. There is a cheese dairy on the farm that processes milk from cows, sheep and goats. The products produced are marketed directly in a farm shop . The goods are also offered at weekly and farmers' markets in the area and in the nearby city of Hanover .
Solidarity agriculture
The Solidarity Agriculture Gut Adolphshof was founded in early 2013 and has around 190 members. The members of the economic community, so-called fellow farmers, finance part of the agriculture on the Adolphshof and help with the farm work on a voluntary basis. For their practical and financial commitment, they receive a weekly portion of the harvest, consisting of seasonal vegetables, herbs, potatoes, bread, dairy products, eggs, sausage and meat. These parts of the harvest are delivered from the farm to nine depots managed by the members themselves in Hanover and the surrounding area.
history
founding
Gut Adolphshof was founded in 1827 by the wine merchant Hermann Heinrich Siemering from Hanover . He acquired around 250 hectares of pasture land on Dolger Heide . Financial support through a loan he received from Adolph of Cambridge , the Governor General of the Kingdom of Hanover and brother of the King of Hannover Georg IV. In honor of the sponsor Adolph Cambridge the Gutsanlage was named after him Adolphshof, despite the popularly called initially "Siemeringshof" has been.
Fields and pastures were created to build the estate. All buildings, such as residential buildings, barns and stables, had to be built first. The bricks for this were made in our own brick factory on the farm. The brickworks also produced drainage pipes for draining the soil, without which no agriculture would have been possible. The founder lived in a half-timbered house made of clay. Around 1830 a school was established on the estate and existed until 1943.
When the Minden – Magdeburg railway passed about 2.5 km north of the estate from 1843, the founder's son applied for a stop . He wanted to have agricultural products transported by rail. When the application was rejected due to the lack of a house, Siemering junior had an inn built for foresters, hunters and forest workers in 1848. Soon more houses were added to the train station, and this is how the settlement of Hämelerwald came into being .
Early ways of working and products
In the 19th century the manor produced wool, butter, cheese, rapeseed, peas, beans and grain. As there was a lot of pastureland, a flock of 800 sheep was created. A distillery on the farm produced brandy until 1895 . Oxen and horses were used as draft animals for plowing . A seed drill was purchased around 1870 for sowing. The grain harvest was initially carried out by reapers and later by trailed mowers. Threshing was initially done manually and later done by a threshing machine .
In 1889 the Adolphshof comprised six residential buildings in which 54 people lived. During this time, the landowner had grown tired of cultivating his estate with wet and poor years of income. In 1900 he sold the farm to the farmer Heinrich Hartmann. He came from the village of Linden near Hanover and had to give way to the industrialization that began there. A new upswing began with the new landlord. Among other things, fruits were grown for a canning factory. In 1921, the Adolphshof got electricity when a passing overhead line was built . In 1923, the first tractor began to mechanize the farm. Due to the considerable investments in electric and agricultural machinery as well as the global economic crisis that began in 1929 , the farm got into economic difficulties. It could be laboriously compensated for by selling land and renouncing inheritance.
World War II and post-war period
When the Second World War broke out in 1939, the owner and almost all of the farm workers were drafted into the military. Horses were commandeered for military service . The landlady continued to run the business with older servants and some Polish prisoners of war. The landowner returned to the farm in the spring of 1940. This year the Adolphshof received the first combine harvester in the Peine district.
In the autumn of 1944 the courtyard was attacked by an enemy plane with aerial bombs. An explosive bomb detonated in the middle of the manor and caused major property damage.
In the post-war period , displaced persons were housed at the Adolphshof . Ninety of the 158 residents in 1950 were displaced. From 1952 onwards, many moved to take up better-paid work in industry. The lack of labor on the farm was compensated for by a higher degree of mechanization.
Biodynamic economy from 1952
In the early 1950s , large amounts of mineral fertilizers were used in the fields and pastures . This was common at the time to increase yield. The use of fertilizers made soil management increasingly difficult. When stillbirths and miscarriages in sheep were attributed to the use of pesticides, the landowner Heinrich Hartmann junior changed his way of doing business. As an alternative to fertilizer and chemicals, he converted the farm to biodynamic farming within two years . Since then, the Adolphshof has been a Demeter grower. The successor Henning Hartmann strengthened the self-processing and direct marketing of the products from 1968 . A farm shop was set up in 1980 , a bakery was opened in 1985, and a cheese dairy was added later.
literature
- Otto Bode: From the history of Gut Adolphshof . In: Lehrter Land & People No. 5 , Lehrte 1996.
- Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany, architectural monuments in Lower Saxony, Hanover region, part 2, volume 13.2 , edited by Christiane Segers-Glocke , edited by Carolin Krumm, Verlag CW Niemeyer Buchverlage , Hameln 2005, ISBN 3-8271-8255-7 , p. 304.
- Adolf Meyer: Named after a popular viceroy: How Gut Adolphshof got its name - Representing and not governing: Adolph Friedrich was very popular in Hanover . Sachsenspiegel 34, Cellesche Zeitung , August 24, 2013.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Social therapy at Gut Adolphshof. Website of Gut Adolphshof. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
- ^ Social therapy at Gut Adolphshof. Website of Gut Adolphshof. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
- ↑ Offers - Adolphshof. Retrieved June 2, 2018 .
- ↑ Our place of learning - Adolphshof. Retrieved June 2, 2018 .
- ↑ The company profile of the Adolphhof as a demo company. ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.oekolandbau.de.
- ^ Solidarity agriculture Gut Adolphshof. Website of Gut Adolphshof.
Coordinates: 52 ° 19 '59.8 " N , 10 ° 7' 7.1" E