Sepp Holzer

This article is about the farmer and book author. For more people see Josef Holzer .

Water retention landscape based on a design by Sepp Holzer in Tamera , Portugal

Sepp Holzer (born July 24, 1942 in Ramingstein , Salzburg ) is an Austrian farmer , author and an international consultant for near-natural agriculture. He is also the founder of Holzer's permaculture.

Life

childhood

Holzer was born after Hans and Martin as the youngest of three sons on the Krameterhof of his parents Martin and Maria Holzer, and his younger foster sister Gloria also belonged to the family. The farm is located in the Lungau at around 1300  m above sea level. A. in an isolated location on a steep, southeast-facing hillside plot 300 meters above the village of Ramingstein in the Murtal and was then only accessible via an unpaved cart path. Around 24 hectares of land belonged to the farm  , which was cultivated in the conventional way. Sepp Holzer's parents kept around ten cattle , 20 sheep , a horse , a few pigs and chickens and several geese . The operation was entirely done by hand, there was no electricity, no telephone, no motor vehicles or motor-driven machines, which is why a maid and a servant worked on the farm in addition to the farmers, as well as several casual and temporary workers, as well as the From an early age, children had to do work depending on their ability. The parents were conservative and were very reluctant to take on innovations, so that the farm was only connected to the public electricity network in 1955. The children were brought up Catholic , every Sunday the family made the long walk together into the valley to attend the church service , prayers before and after every meal were a matter of course, and there were also hours of rosary prayers on Saturdays and after deaths in the neighborhood. Visits to the doctor were avoided because of the high costs involved and long distances where possible, minor injuries and illnesses were treated with home remedies. Even as a child, Holzer showed an extraordinary interest in all possible biological processes and carried out germination and plant experiments, first in his mother's plant troughs, later in the "Beißwurmboanling", an extremely steep and therefore fallow strip of land on his parents' farm. These experiments, coupled with his precise powers of observation, gave him valuable insights into ecological relationships at a young age .

schooldays

From 1950 Holzer received school lessons in a multi-level class with 38 students in Ramingstein. He had to walk the two-hour walk to school with a brisk march. After elementary school he received the usual training for a young farmer: In addition to the agricultural school, he was trained as a fruit tree keeper and also did blasting training and fishing training on Mondsee .

Takeover of the Krameterhof

In 1962 Holzer took over his parents' farm. As he wrote in 2002, the application of his school knowledge led to serious setbacks in the management of the property. Subsequently, based on his much more successful childhood experiences, he began to develop an easy-care and natural cultivation method. By closely observing the processes in nature and imitating them in his agriculture, he achieved considerable success and created a "natural paradise" between 1100 and 1500 meters above sea level, in which even kiwis and sweet chestnuts thrive. The Krameterhof was greatly expanded during the management by Sepp Holzer. By the time it was handed over to his son in 2009, 20 hectares had grown to around 45.

During this time, Holzer also repeatedly changed the landscape and experimented with numerous cultures and animal races. Today, a mixed culture of fruit, vegetables, herbs and grain covers the Berghof. In addition, there is a system of networked ponds with more than 3 hectares of water in which fish, crabs and aquatic plants are bred.

Relocation to Burgenland

Since February 2013 Sepp Holzer has lived with his wife on the new "Holzerhof" in southern Burgenland, near Jennersdorf. Together with the association PermaVitae in Austria and HolzerAgroEcology, Holzer offers seminars and courses.

Holzer's permaculture / agro-ecology

When he was made aware that his methods were similar in many respects to the permaculture concept established by the two Australians Bill Mollison and David Holmgren , he named his method Holzer's permaculture . With innovative ideas, but also old methods, such as terrace building, hill and raised beds, the keeping of endangered breeds of livestock and the protection of threatened alpine and cultivated plants , he has continued to develop Holzer's permaculture for the alpine area since then, and in many areas can achieve amazing results.

A formative experience was the many years of dealing with various authorities, which often actively hindered his way of doing business. Many of Holzer's ideas were in clear contradiction to official recommendations and requirements. This led to numerous, sometimes long, court cases which he describes in his book "The Agrarian Rebel".

In Holzer's permaculture, sometimes referred to by Holzer as agro-ecology, the storage and use of water play a central role. This is especially true in arid areas with only seasonal precipitation, which is threatened by desertification. Holzer often only uses the naturally occurring rainwater, which is carried over the property in complex systems of ponds and connecting ditches. The near-natural design of the ponds with protected shallow water zones offers ecological niches for numerous animal and plant species.

Projects and teaching

Holzer works as a consultant for agricultural and aquaculture projects worldwide and holds seminars on a regular basis. According to the Wissens-Verlag , Holzer looks after "almost 200" projects worldwide.

In 2007, in the ecovillage Tamera in Portugal, he created a water retention landscape with several ponds, which is fed exclusively from rainwater.

criticism

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

The Krameterhof project is also viewed critically: it could only give impetus for a different approach to the alpine landscape in the sense of sustainability, but it would offer little practical help for a productive alternative agriculture, which would enable the farmer to run his business successfully in financial terms to lead. Not every farm can be turned into an adventure farm in anticipation of sufficient visitor numbers.

Since around 1995, the majority of the Holzer's income has been primarily due to the publication of books, guided tours of the farm and consulting activities, but not to the original purpose of agriculture. According to criticism, agriculture alone would not generate enough profit. It should be noted, however, that various projects on the Krameterhof were also economically successful and the farm concept today as a teaching project is not aimed at sole agriculture due to Holzer's diverse other activities. While a large number of visitors describe the visit to the Krameterhof as an enriching and astonishing experience, which is attested by a large number of letters of thanks and congratulations to Holzer, there are also people who experienced a visit to the farm as a disillusionment or disappointment , Critical questions about productivity were not allowed, and individual questioners were expelled during the tours of the court.

The use of heavy machinery by Holzer when creating the terraces and ponds is also repeatedly criticized.

Critics also accuse Holzer of deviating from the design principles of classic permaculture several times. In his most recent book Wo ein Wille da ein Weg, Holzer countered that he always developed his agricultural methods as a practitioner through close observation of nature in a " trial and error " method and not on the basis of theories. It was only afterwards that third parties would have made him aware of the relationship between his approaches and many ideas about permaculture, who asked him to use this term for his way of working. He therefore always spoke consciously of Holzer's permaculture, because he did not want to be absorbed by any theoretical school. David Holmgren describes Holzer as "an excellent permaculture designer and practitioner who is completely outside the official permaculture training line and has crashed into almost everyone within the European permaculture scene." Joe Polaischer had a good, if at times contradicting, collaboration with his Compatriot [sic!] Sepp Holzer.

Several projects advised by Holzer failed or were not implemented as planned. In several cases, Holzer was sentenced to pay damages . The Jena-Hof project in Jennersdorf in Burgenland, advised by Holzer, ended in a lasting destruction of the ground with massive landslides, with a legal and expert dispute pending over the question of guilt. After the owner of the farm had to file for bankruptcy and after the end of the joint project “Naturerlebnisland-Kinderbauernland Holzer, Barrada”, Holzer took over what he now called “Holzerhof” “Jena-Hof” as part of a creditors' settlement. Holzer lives there today with his wife Veronika.

Publishing relationships

The first two books by Sepp Holzer were published by Leopold Stocker Verlag , which publishes agricultural and hunting specialist books, cookery and handicraft books, regionalia, hiking guides, non-fiction books with scientific standards and right-wing conservative literature with intersections with right-wing extremism . Holzer's texts themselves do not contain any right-wing extremist content. The third book The Visionaries, in which Holzer and other renowned personalities of contemporary history such as Karl-Ludwig Schweisfurth have their say, was published by Concord Verlag, the book Wo ein Wille da ein Weg was published in March 2006 by Kneipp Verlag .

Publications

• Sepp Holzer, Konrad Liebchen: Sepp Holzer - The agricultural rebel. With a foreword by Bernd Lötsch . Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2002, ISBN 3-7020-0970-1 .
• Sepp Holzer, Claudia Holzer, Josef Andreas Holzer: Sepp Holzer's Permaculture - Practical application for garden, fruit and agriculture. With a preface by Joe Polaischer . Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2004, ISBN 3-7020-1037-8 .
• Peasants - the soul of every people. In: Robin Wood (= Peter Steffen) (Ed.): The visionaries - can our earth still be saved? Concord-Verlag, Mariahof 2005, ISBN 3-9501887-2-X .
• Where there is a will, there is a way - natural healing knowledge, experience and herbal practice of the agricultural rebel. Including audio CD. Kneipp Verlag, Leoben 2006, ISBN 3-7088-0368-X .
• Desert or paradise. From the renaturation of threatened landscapes to aqua culture and biotope construction to urban gardening. Among employees by Leila Dregger. Stocker, Graz 2013, ISBN 978-3-7020-1324-0 (other title: Holzer's permaculture now! ).

literature

• Peter Steffen: Sepp Holzer - The agricultural rebel and his new projects. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2007, ISBN 978-3-7020-1155-0 .

criticism

• Gertrud Barrada: Bitter Harvest: Courage for Truth - A woman unpacks (= AV book ). Österreichischer Agrarverlag, Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-7040-2218-7 .

Movie

• Sepp Holzer - the life and perspective of a visionary. Audio CD (5 hours). w | k | & | f Filmverlag, Kempten 2006.

Web links

• www.seppholzer.at
• www.holzeragroecology.org
• www.permavitae.org
• Literature by and about Sepp Holzer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Krameterhof Homepage of Sepp Holzers Hof
• Berta Homepage - first wheelchair-accessible Holzer Permaculture in the Styrian Ausseerland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ How did the name come about ? Holzer's permaculture. In: seppholzer.at, accessed on July 16, 2017.
2. ↑ Main building: 47 ° 4 ′ 12.6 ″  N , 13 ° 47 ′ 16.6 ″  E
3. ↑ The Krameterhof. In: seppholzer.at, accessed on July 26, 2017.
4. ↑ permavitae.org, accessed July 26, 2017.
5. ↑ holzerpermaculture.us, accessed on July 26, 2017.
6. ↑ Sepp Holzer's international projects . In: seppholzer.at, accessed on July 26, 2017.
7. ^ The Wissens-Verlag: “The situation in agriculture is terrible!” | An interview with agricultural rebel Sepp Holzer (from 0:09:52) on YouTube , May 12, 2015, accessed on May 4, 2019 (interview with Werner Huemer).
8. ↑ Sepp Holzer on the Tamera water retention landscape on YouTube, accessed on July 26, 2017.
9. ↑ David Holmgren: Obituary for Joe Polaischer ( Memento of December 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). In: permakultur.net, accessed on July 26, 2017 (translation: Daniel Hackenberg).
10. ↑ Different versions of Gertrud Barrada's website jena-hof.at , which show the development of the project and Barrada's attitude towards him:
    Jena-Hof. Holzer's permaculture in the Raab Nature Park ( Memento from January 3, 2003 in the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. April 27, 2003, accessed on July 26, 2017 (project presentation; first memento). -
    Jena-Hof. Holzer's Permaculture in the nature park Raab ( Memento of December 25, 2003 at the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. undated, accessed on July 26, 2017 (conversion of the website with project presentation; positive memento). -
    Jena-Hof. Holzer's permaculture in the Raab Nature Park ( Memento from December 14, 2004 in the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. undated, accessed on July 26, 2017 (project presentation; last positive memento). -
    My experiences with the agricultural rebel Sepp Holzer. Bitter harvest. Introduction ( Memento of March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. February 3, 2007, accessed on July 26, 2017 (report on the Jena-Hof damage in Burgenland from the point of view of Gertrud Barrada; first memento after the website's critical renovation). -
    My experiences with the agricultural rebel Sepp Holzer. Statement of facts ( memento of April 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. November 5, 2010, accessed on July 26, 2017 (report on the Jena-Hof damage in Burgenland from the perspective of Gertrud Barrada). -
    My experiences with the agricultural rebel Sepp Holzer. The inglorious end of Holzerscher permaculture on the Jena-Hof ( memento from March 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: jena-hof.at. June 22, 2012, Retrieved July 26, 2017 (update; last memento).
11. ↑ Robin Wood (= Peter Steffen) (Ed.): The visionaries - can our earth still be saved? Concord, Mariahof 2005, ISBN 3-9501887-2-X . - UrQuellWasser: Book Description for Die Visionäre - Can our earth still be saved? In: urquellwasser.eu. October 4, 2007. Retrieved July 26, 2017.