The Wolfskuhle (literally “wolf pit”) is a park in a South Bremen neighbourhood. Wolfskuhle Park is something of a green oasis in a neighbourhood clogged with residential buildings, large retail stores and a major hospital. Never mind that the park is located directly alongside the Kattenturmer Heerstraße, a busy thoroughfare leading towards the city centre which has been one of the main roads into the city for centuries.
Back when the vehicles travelling along the Kattenturmer Heerstraße were stage coaches rather than cars, what is now Wolfskuhle Park was a large estate. According to local legend, in those days a pack of wolves took to chasing passing carriages and managed to terrify one coachman so much that he piloted his carriage into a pond. Hence, the name Wolfskuhle – wolf pit. The wolves and the old estate are long gone, but the park and the pond are still there.
Wolfskuhle Park is particularly beautiful in spring, when the ground is covered all over with white wood anemones. And since I drove past the Wolfskuhle today, I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of the park and its wood anemones, which you can see behind the cut:
A look into Wolfskuhle Park from a side street. On the ground you can see the distinctive white wood anemones.
Another view of Wolfskuhle Park and its wood anemones. The morning was slightly misty, lending the photos a dreamy fairytale quality.
The park is not very big and you can see the houses beyond the park on the other side of the road. Again note the wood anemones.
A close-up view of a cluster of white wood anemones. I have grown up calling these plants star flowers.
Sometimes, the wood anemones also mingle with other plants such as the tiny yellow flowers seen here.
And here is a cluster of small yellow flowers. Unfortunately I have no idea what they are called.
A look across the Wolfskuhle pond, sans drowning carriages.
A brook leading into Wolfskuhle pond. The park is located pretty close to the river Ochtum and the area is marshy, so moats and brooks like this one crisscross the area for draibage reasons.
In addition to wood anemones, Wolfskuhle Park is also home to a colony of cranes. Here you can see their nests high up in the old oak trees. Unfortunately, I could not capture a crane, though I certainly heard and saw plenty of them.
A forsythia bush in full bloom in a garden near Wolfskuhle park.
Forsythia branches hanging over a brook near Wolfskuhle park.
Yet another drainage brook partly overgrown with branches.
An allotment garden colony near Wolfskuhle park. Allotment gardens are a common sight all over Germany. These gardens allow city dwellers to rent a plot of land for growing vegetables.
Allotment plots usually include a small garden house. This is one of the bigger examples and might actually be a so-called Kaisen house, an allotment house refurbished for constant habitation after the bombing raids of WWII.
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