Wenkbüll. Ingenhoven Castle. Parasyrphus sp., Hoverfly, on Raphanus sativus subsp. oleiferus, Oilseed Radish, Lobberich, Germany
Then I biked across the Venlo Heath into the Nature Reserve of western Nordrhein-Westfalen and out again to the millennium-old town of Lobberich. Though it's not far away, I'd never really looked at it and the Beautiful Autumn Day enhanced the town's slow attractiveness.
I should have gone before because one of my classicist heroes was born here: Werner Jaeger ( set1888-1971); fleeing Nazi Germany, he became a foremost American scholar.
Here's Ingenhoven Castle set in the middle of a pretty park with huge fountain in the centre of Lobberich. it was built around 1400 when the town was already half a millennium old. Nineteenth-century wool, silk and velvet industry created wealth and a certain condescension to surrounding villages. Soon Lobberichans were designated as 'Wenkbüll' in the local dialect, meaning: Bag of Wind. Today that epithet is taken in good humor indeed embraced.
After the demise of the wool industry, agriculture became again a mainstay of Lobberich economy. Of course, crop rotation is important. The inset taken on the very edge of town shows a flower of Raphanus sativus, Oilseed Radish, used to absorb the nitrogen left in the soil by other crops. Its visitor - beautifully striped velvety in Gold and Black - is a Hoverfly; I think Parasyrphus, possibly nigritarsis.
Wenkbüll. Ingenhoven Castle. Parasyrphus sp., Hoverfly, on Raphanus sativus subsp. oleiferus, Oilseed Radish, Lobberich, Germany
Then I biked across the Venlo Heath into the Nature Reserve of western Nordrhein-Westfalen and out again to the millennium-old town of Lobberich. Though it's not far away, I'd never really looked at it and the Beautiful Autumn Day enhanced the town's slow attractiveness.
I should have gone before because one of my classicist heroes was born here: Werner Jaeger ( set1888-1971); fleeing Nazi Germany, he became a foremost American scholar.
Here's Ingenhoven Castle set in the middle of a pretty park with huge fountain in the centre of Lobberich. it was built around 1400 when the town was already half a millennium old. Nineteenth-century wool, silk and velvet industry created wealth and a certain condescension to surrounding villages. Soon Lobberichans were designated as 'Wenkbüll' in the local dialect, meaning: Bag of Wind. Today that epithet is taken in good humor indeed embraced.
After the demise of the wool industry, agriculture became again a mainstay of Lobberich economy. Of course, crop rotation is important. The inset taken on the very edge of town shows a flower of Raphanus sativus, Oilseed Radish, used to absorb the nitrogen left in the soil by other crops. Its visitor - beautifully striped velvety in Gold and Black - is a Hoverfly; I think Parasyrphus, possibly nigritarsis.