Birgit Voigtlander. A wandering shepherdess in Schleswig-Holstein
In the middle of Schleswig-Holstein, in the “green heart” of the country, lies the 380 square kilometer Aukrug Nature Park, and this is exactly where Birgit Voigtländer’s business is located.
Practical training in a large sheep farm
Her “career” as a traveling shepherdess began when, in early 1991, while looking for a job outside of the hectic life in Hamburg, she came across a large sheep farm that was close to the Elbe to the east of her hometown. The motto here was “learning by doing”: working in the stable, looking after migrating herds on the extensive meadows by the river and caring for the animals during the lambing season – this is how she gained knowledge in all areas of this ancient craft.
Starting your own business with 260 sheep
As Birgit Voigtländer later said, the two years of this “extra-tariff” work – there was no monthly payment, just room and board – set the course for her life: “I caught fire back then and later definitely wanted to become a traveling shepherdess.” To the At that time, she didn't think about starting her own business. This idea only matured when she was subsequently rewarded for her work in the large-scale sheep farm - not in the form of monetary compensation, but in the form of 130 live sheep.
When this herd expanded to 260 animals, the prerequisites for self-employment were met - initially as part of a partnership in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, then since 1999 as the sole boss and certified animal farmer, specializing in sheep farming, in Schleswig-Holstein.
Self-marketing in the farm shop in Aukrug
The Aukrug sheep farm with 800 ewes and 120 goats currently graze heathland, moors and dry meadows in nature reserves in the Segeberg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde districts. The focal points are the Barker Heath, the Wittenborner Heide and the Stellbrookmoor in the Segeberg district. In the cold season, the animals overwinter on farm land in the Aukrug area.
With four employees, Birgit Voigtländer's team is larger than the others Traveling sheep farms in the country. Accordingly, there is more to do, for example to constantly supply the farm shop with fresh goods. Birgit Voigtländer generates around 50% of her sales through marketing her meat, the other half through income from grazing orders.
“Shepherding is life”
“What is the main goal of transhumance?” Birgit Voigtländer recently asked in a podcast “The Sound of Service”asked. “The answer is deceptively simple,” she said. “The sheep always have to be fed. But there is a big challenge, and that is the logistics of finding productive grazing land and figuring out how to get there.”
Birgit Voigtländer sees dark clouds gathering for the future of transhumance. “50 sheep farms in Germany cease operations every year. This means that old knowledge is also lost – not only in herding technology, but also in the training of dogs and the appropriate treatment of sheep when they are sick.”
Nevertheless, she has not lost her optimism: “Shepherding is life. And: A landscape without sheep is only half as beautiful.”
Pictures from this article will be available in the exhibition “Nomads of Our Time” from March 30, 2023 (opening). Migrant sheep farms in Schleswig-Holstein” and in the accompanying volume of the same name. This Project is carried out by the Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein and made possible with funds from the European Union and the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Recording devices: Nikon D850, Nikon Z 7 and Hasselblad L1D-20c (DJI Mavic 2 Pro).
