"Culture in the countryside is more than pottery classes and Window Colour art".

Regional writer for Münsterland on the road again after Corona break

MÜNSTERLAND. After eight weeks of only being able to explore the Münsterland from faraway Berlin due to illness and Corona, she is back: regional writer Charlotte Krafft. Selected by the state-wide literature project "stadt.land.text NRW", her goal is to explore the Münsterland and write about it in a blog atwww.stadt-land-text.de/author/charlotte-krafft. The first texts by the writer with a penchant for science fiction lead into the distant future of Münsterland, with excursions into forests and wildlife parks. In reality, Krafft is currently travelling through Dülmen, Warendorf and the Westmünsterland.

At the beginning of April, Charlotte Krafft had called on the people of Münsterland from Berlin to get in touch with her by e-mail. 35 messages reached her. "In the meantime, I was almost a bit overwhelmed by the amount of ideas and hints the Münsterlanders sent me," says Charlotte Krafft. "But I also had the ambition to think about everything and consider whether and how I could use them. Whether it was strawberry jam, lady shooters, weed-killing field robots or the Oelde Pentecost wreath. And of course I wanted to reply to everyone who wrote to me." And individual messages she still gets. "Some now get in touch with me every now and then if they remember something else or have found out something new. And with one older lady, something like an email friendship has even developed."

Krafft was impressed by the pride of many locals in the local cultural offerings in Münsterland: "I don't know of any other region where almost every small town has its own cultural centre with interesting projects and offerings, and where almost everyone is artistically active in their own way. In the countryside there are not only pottery courses and Window Colour art, as many city dwellers in their narrow-mindedness believe. And when you open yourself up to these new impressions, you do wonder who the backwoodsman actually is."

Charlotte Krafft spent her first two weeks in Münsterland in Dülmen and visited the wild horses and Buldern Castle, among other places. The issue of mobility is a challenge for her, as she travels exclusively by bicycle and public transport. The regional writer is doing well - except for typical complaints for Münsterland newcomers: "After 30 kilometres on the rental bike, my backside hurts enormously. I'm absolutely not used to that, because I think cycling in Berlin is mean. But here I actually cycle with joy - if it weren't for this saddle."

At the moment, Charlotte Krafft is staying in Warendorf and is planning trips to the Emsauen and the Teutoburg Forest, after which her route will take her to Westmünsterland. Charlotte Krafft wants to meet with cultural actors in the region. She is currently working on the topic "Relationship between nature and culture in the Münsterland park landscape". Krafft: "In Münsterland, people's care for natural and cultural monuments is very pronounced. This care always takes place in the area of tension between proximity and care on the one hand and distance and preservation on the other. I find this very exciting and am currently working quite extensively on landscape developments of the past and coming decades. For example, how rampart hedges were built in the past, which were later levelled in the course of land consolidation and recently reconstructed."

The regional writer continues to seek contact with the people of Münsterland: "Anyone who has information about Spökenkiekerei and concrete Spökenkieker stories to tell is very welcome to send me a message at schreiberin@muensterland.com." Because she may want to write one of these stories herself.

Notes to editors:

A complete interview with Charlotte Krafft is available at www.muensterland.com/stadtlandtext and can be used editorially.

Charlotte Krafft's "route" arises spontaneously. If you would like to be informed when the regional writer is in your area/place, please contact Eva Stannigel (02571 94 93 04, stannigel@muensterland.com) or Mareike Meiring (02571 94 93 34, meiring@muensterland.com).

Further information on the project atwww.stadt-land-text.de