Teufelsmoor

Large parts of the Teufelsmoor area consist of raised bog peat which is formed from sphagnum moss.

The settlers were simple farmhands and maids from the surrounding area, who were attracted by the prospect of having their own property and being freed from taxes and military service.

Life expectancy in the dark, damp bog dwellings was short and the moor's soils were unsuited to farming.

The embankments running alongside these canals were used by burlaks to haul the barges and also opened up the long-street villages (Straßendorf) following the practice in the fen (Fehn) regions.

Major 'melioration' measures such as draining, deep ploughing (Tiefumbruch) and river regulation were supposed to increase the productivity of agriculture and even enabled arable farming.

This went so far that ditches dried out in summer, heath fires broke out and, during sustained periods of drought, the land was artificially watered.

Meanwhile, the Teufelsmoor has become part of the commuter belt for the city of Bremen, and its settlements are growing due to the shortage of building land and the influx of new inhabitants.

This portrays the life of several generations of the Kehdings, a fictional farming family, from the initial time of land reclamation to the end of the 20th century.

The Teufelsmoor is also well-known from numerous TV programmes such as the recent murder mystery starring Maria Furtwängler, part of the long-running Tatort series.