Juniper trees on the Zeegse Dunes

The Zeegser Dunes are sand hills surrounded by beautiful areas of woodland and heath which have developed spontaneously on the former heathland. The ground here was originally so poor that only heather and juniper bushes would grow. As soon as the juniper bushes had really established themselves, oaks, beech trees and conifers also began to appear and created mixed woodland. In most places the newcomers have driven out the junipers.

The mysterious old Juniper in the Zeegser dunes (photo Mark Kohn)

A useless piece of waste ground

At the beginning of the twentieth century many people bought a piece of wilderness here to build themselves a summer-house. Today it is hard to imagine that anyone would be granted permission to build a holiday home in the middle of a nature area. But at that time the owner of the wasteland was pleased to earn a few cents by selling such a useless piece of waste ground …