You are here: Home Page > About the International Gabriele Foundation > The Kingdom of Peace Becomes Visible

We encounter einer a rolling landscape of fields and woods that invites one to a tranquil experience of nature. It is quiet here. On the edge of the path a grain field is waving in the wind, picturesquely surrounded by shining red poppy flowers. Perhaps a hare hops along the way in greeting, or a deer family is grazing above, at the edge of the woods. Further down, behind trees and bushes one can recognize a farmstead. And on the other side of the valley between two woodlands, a wide field spreads out slowly rising and leading your eyes upward – to a mighty wooden cross standing on the hilltop. From the distance it seems relatively small, but one can feel its true greatness and grandeur. The symbol of the Resurrected One shines over the isle of the Kingdom of Peace in coming.

Whoever looks around can see that much is in development and some things have already been completed. For example, the Bird Paradise – a small woods filled with the many voices of the life of its inhabitants. A colorful multitude of birds settled into the numerous nesting boxes during the Spring and raised their young: nuthatch and spotted woodpecker, robin and finch, thrush and jay and many others; the cuckoo and even the seldom seen oriole are there. Migrating birds also stop for a rest here. It’s gotten around that in this small woods there are plenty of seeds and always fresh water.

Other animals also get a sense of well-being in the Bird Paradise: wood mice, weasels and rabbits, butterflies, wild bees and bumblebees are at home here. A woods community filled with life that thankfully accepts the care offered by its human caregivers. On the ground of the woods that is free of deadwood, a richly varied flora sprouts: St. John’s Wort, woodruff, the blue Italian asters and a wild orchid turns the bird paradise into a plant paradise as well.

In the hollow of the valley a couple of hundred meters dis- tant, two wetlands have been created with dif- ferent zones of vegeta- tion as a source of food and dwelling places for the most varying kinds of inhabitants: great crested grebes, coots, dwarf bittern, thrush reed warblers, reed bunting ...

Most of them have lost their natural habitats through the over-development of land, sinking groundwater levels and the reallocation of farmland.  

Here they find a new home in herbaceous wetland zones and belts of reeds among alder, willow and ash. Next to the reeds, cattails, marsh iris, rushes, sedges and many different grasses good for spawning grow.

Frogs and pond newts will also make their home there. And every year the wild ducks bring their young to the world here, before they move on again.

A very essential aspect of the renewal of farmland comes as the result of laying out extensive hedge complexes.
Different kinds of trees like oak, sycamore and field maple, hornbeam, beech, linden, sorb tree, service tree and many others were planted.

High hedges will form with plantings of shrubs along the sides, consisting, for example, of hazelnut, privet, sloe, dogwood, black elderberries and spindle tree. These offer the animals shelter, give shade and also give humans a high measure of natural experiences. Earlier forms of cultured landscapes are being created again. Particularly many kinds of animals settle into these transition areas from the layers of trees and shrubs on the one hand, and the open farming fields on the other.

Whitethroat warblers, hedge sparrow, magpie, yellow hammer, red-backed shrike, nightingale, partridge and pheasant are only a few of the bird species that are breeding there. The area of plants and herbs beside these hedges is particularly a source of food for many butterfly species.
Benjes hedges give plants a real boost towards settling and spreading in a natural way. First, brush that has been cut is placed in layers to form hedges.

After a few years, through seeds mostly dropped by birds, trees and bushes take root and settle in. The dead twigs and branches prevent the soil from drying out and as they disintegrate, a rich layer of humus for the plants is formed.
 And, of course, the hedges are also great for turtles, hedgehogs, lizards and field hares, polecats and weasels. At the same time, tree islands are developed, here and there small copses in the midst of the farmlands.

The tree groups are enclosed by diverse bushes and wild herbaceous growth. Various kinds of oak and hornbeam have been planted, field maple, birch, winter linden, red beech, cherry and many others, too. Where bushes are planted, hazelnut, red hedge cherries, black elderberries, blackberries, wild roses, cranberry bushes and sea buckthorn grow. Such tree islands have almost completely disappeared from the landscape of conventional farmland, since every square meter of soil should bring in a profit. In the Peaceable Farming, which is practiced here, this is different: Many wild animals find protection and food in the field copses – field hares and foxes, pheasant, polecats and partridges. All of them find shelter here. Red-backed shrikes, kestrels, owls and other bird species brood in the security of the trees and bushes.

Not unimportant are also the stone biotopes with their small and large holes, nooks and crannies that are particularly favored by certain species. A stone biotope offers many small mammals like mice and marten places of refuge and sleep. Lizards and snakes have their homes there and sun themselves in absolute comfort on the warm stones during the Summer.

By creating these dif- ferent habitats for plants and animals it is especially important that these biotopes are connected to one another, for example, through hedges. In the end, such a network of countryside features should draw through the fields. The animals can move along at the edge of these routes and always find protection and shelter. This connective biotope system is very important for the maintenance, creation and expansion of habitats for many animals and plants.
These are only a few examples of the development of nature and countryside that is taking place on the Land of Peace. 

It is constantly growing through new fields for cultivation, and new reforestation. Wooded areas, meadows and fields have been acquired to increase the size of the habitats of the animals and to decrease the hunting pressure on them. The animals feel the peaceful care and overcome their fear of the people who live here with them. This is why the caretakers see to it that not too many visitors and curious people disturb the tranquility of the fields and woods. The animals need a longer period of time to get used to humans, whom they have normally experienced only as enemies. In the animal world, it would seem that word of the existence of this oases has gotten around, for apparently the orphaned young, of animal parents that have fallen victim to a ruthless hunter who shot down a wild sow or a doe, are making their appearance.