Dear Katrin, what is the House of Nature Conservation in Bad Freienwalde? What do you do? Why should people visit you?
We continue Kurt and Erna's legacy here. The idea was to create places like this outside of major cities, where nature conservation and natural gardening are put into practice. Here, everything revolves around the annual cycle. We visit schools and daycare centers, but also provide adult education. We are Germany's oldest environmental education center. At the same time, we are also a hiking base, which is also thanks to Kurt Kretschmann, who looked after the hiking trails. You can spend the night with us close to nature and even visit the log cabin where the Kretschmanns lived and worked. Climb the Owl Tower and look out into the Oderbruch, or simply enjoy the idyllic garden.
The conservation owl is celebrating its 75th birthday this year. How is the anniversary being celebrated in its birthplace?
I'm really into owls and want to bring the people of Bad Freienwalde with me and spread this anniversary year with everyone in the town, from the inside out, into the world. There are a variety of events and activities, such as "Owl Species - Art for Nature Conservation." Hundreds of people, young and old, have designed their own personal owls, which are currently on display in an empty shop in the city center and will continue to appear thereafter. There's going to be a children's documentary film, which is very dear to my heart, and the celebrations will culminate with a week of festivities starting on October 13th.
Dear Katrin, what is your wish? What should remain after this anniversary year?
I hope that we in Bad Freienwalde become even more aware of the nature conservation owl, and that we proudly say that it was born here and, thanks to our projects and activities, that it has spread throughout Germany, living up to its name and acting as a recognized symbol of nature conservation, perhaps even flying beyond Germany's borders. And that this wise animal will remind us what it's really all about and how worthy of protecting our natural environment is.