On the Elbe – where the large container ships travel from the North Sea toward Hamburg – lies a truly special region. Here, unique cultural and natural landscapes alternate: endless orchards, rare rain moors, and ancient forests.

When the fog lifts after the long stillness of winter, the wet meadows come alive. They are a vital hub for bird migration between the Arctic and Africa. Many migratory birds breed here and raise their young.

In early summer, the sea of blossoms in the apple orchards offers a breathtaking sight in the largest contiguous fruit-growing region in Northern Europe – the Altes Land. Dutch settlers secured the land with dikes around 600 years ago. And to this day, the saying goes: “De nich will dieken, mutt wieken” – “Those who don’t want to build dikes must give way.”

But even this unique landscape is facing challenges: the deepening of the Elbe is leading to soil salinization, and climate change is reducing harvests and threatening the habitats in the marshes, geest, and moors.

Yet despite these threats, this is a place where we continue to witness new beginnings and spectacular natural events throughout the year – from the hatching of the first chicks to the bird migration in the Kehdingen Elbe marshes.

Our film follows these remarkable cultural and natural landscapes through the four seasons. At the heart of it all are the orchards, with both old and new apple varieties, which we accompany from the spring blossom through harvest to winter pruning.

Along the way, we experience the beauty of nature through the seasons: farmers trying to use chickens instead of pesticides to manage the soil between the trees more sustainably, the harvest of particularly special apples – and in doing so, we vividly discover a lesser-known side of Germany.