Schlepperfreunde Hinsbeck

Johannes Thodam, president of tractor club Schlepperfreunde Hinsbeck (Tractor Friends Hinsbeck), leads his group on a tour of the German countryside, with stops for lunch and cake at local country cafes.

Funny how one thing leads to another. Working in my apartment in rural Netherlands, I hear people walking by speaking languages I don’t recognize, and I feel the ground shake and windows rattle as gigantic farm equipment rambles by on their way to harvest plants I don’t even know. Life is an experience with no end in sight and it’s exciting.

Recently, a local tractor driver pulled in and parked to have lunch next door at the Oelespot restaurant. You know, who drives their tractor to lunch, right? I didn’t recognize the sound of the engine, so I had to go find out. I remember an assignment I had in college, to go out and photograph someone you don’t know. Well ok, I just met Johannes Thodam and his wife driving their 1956 Eicher EKL15/II tractor to lunch. He even built her a seat on the side.

I introduced myself and we talked old tractor for a while. I asked if I could take their photograph with their tractor sometime and they agreed. Yes, something to look forward to! Then he mentioned they’re always doing tractor caravans with other members of his tractor club Schlepperfreunde Hinsbeck (Tractor Friends Hinsbeck) and that I should join them. A tractor club, more tractors? One thing leads to another.

I met the Schlepperfreunde group a week later and my biggest concern was do I ride on a tractor (limiting my ability to change vantage points) or drive and shoot from my van? Since the country roads were smaller than one lane, how could I get shots of them coming to me, passing, and then shooting from behind. Tricky, but doable, drive the route in advance and figure it out. The big day came, and we took an entirely different route, now figure it out.

We drove all the back roads, then stopped for lunch of wienerschnitzel and bier at Heidweiher in Schwalmtal, drove some more and then a break for cake at Hofcafe Alt-Bruch in Nettetal, both in Germany. They make the best cakes and give you the largest pieces I’ve ever been served. I’ll write about the Hofcafe next time.

Johannes and fellow Schlepperfreunde member Gerd Lemkens once drove their vintage tractors (an Eicher EKL15/II and a Schlüter AS 22A, both built in 1956) on a pilgrimage from Germany, over the Pyrenees mountains in southern France, to the Cathedral of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain. A journey that took 2½ months and covered 6,117 km. I asked if the ride was comfortable and he said in German “low comfort”.

Schlepperfreunde Hinsbeck was founded in 2003 and has 51 members, with tractors dating back to the early 1940’s. Tractors have to be at least 30 years old to join. The tractors are frozen in time, once high tech, now relics of the past kept alive by passionate people who treasure history.

Did I mention the upcoming, multi-club “Tractor Pilgrimage” to the Marian shrine in Kevelaer, Germany on October 3? One thing leads to another.