House and Garden 
flourishing trade with their neighbors in the East and 
West. Both land and waterways were availed of for 
traffic. There were no bridges at that time, but the 
streams were crossed by means of primitive ferries. 
The trade was not merely exchange, but the Wends 
bought and sqld, though the gold was not counted, 
but weighed. The conditions and functions of house¬ 
hold life were influenced by household gods. Every 
“house-father” made his own household gods out of 
wood, stone or iron. The demigods were spirits 
(or ghosts) who carried out the orders of the gods. 
They carried on their work by night. They brought 
good luck to those who left them undisturbed. But 
whoever interfered with the demigods was sure to 
suffer misfortune. Thus superstition created beings 
the names of which still live in the language of the 
folk, such as dragons, manikins and goblins. 
But, to return to the modern Spreewald. The 
greater part of the meadow-land belongs to the land¬ 
lords at Straupitz (Count Houwald), and at Liib- 
benau (Count Lynar), and in part to the town of 
Liibbenau, the Royal Forest Fiscal authorities, and 
to the Royal Court Chamber in the Lower Spree¬ 
wald. The peasant farmers of the Spreewald lease 
the land from these owners. 
In the Spreewald district, the river Spree is divided 
into no less than 300 small streams, and during the 
season between the autumn and spring, by the 
regular flooding of the land, a great lake, many 
miles in extent is formed. 
Liibbenau derives a considerable income from its 
culture of beans, horseradish, celery, carrots and cab¬ 
bage and has become celebrated for its export of 
sour cucumbers. 
Most tourists prefer to visit the Spreewald in the 
spring, although this whole district is intensely inter¬ 
esting at any season of the year, awaking as it does 
the remembrance of the long struggle between two 
nations and two religions. It is true we no longer 
find the old Spreewald of the chroniclers, of almost 
endless extent, impenetrable, and the hiding place of 
wolf and bear. Since the completion of the Cottbus 
& Liibben railway, the district can be comfortably 
traversed by the tourist. The enterprising Spree¬ 
wald Verein (association) has, by constructing new 
bridges and the erection of signs, etc., made the way 
more pleasant and less dangerous for the wandering 
tourist than was formerly the case. For those desir¬ 
ing to lead the simple life, I can cordially recommend 
the Spreewald. 
If the stranger from the North selects Liibbenau 
as the entrance portal to this strange and magic 
corner of the earth, he will, on leaving the railway 
station at Liibbenau, be greatly impressed by the 
picturesque and noteworthy spectacle. The Spree¬ 
wald maidens with their bright and many colored 
THE HOME OF A FORESTER 
68 
