Knoll Family Festival #2—on a discovery mission in a bird paradise.

The weather perfect, the Knoll family in a holiday mood—everything was prepared on this beautiful Sunday morning for a relaxing outdoor event with our main players: the families of our teams, Knoll Hydraulik Bindlach and MHS Hydraulik Munich.

Even the location had been carefully selected. The Bayreuth Lindenhof, a renovated four-sided farmhouse belonging to the Bavarian Association for the Protection of Birdlife, is dedicated to bringing nature closer to young and old. Of course, we didn’t need to be asked twice, and off we went, following the tracks of our native species of flora and fauna, guided by our expedition leader Tino Hartenstein.

At 10 a.m., we set off exploring the Lindenhof nature trail and many exciting topics relating to forests, water, meadows, hedges, soil, bees and, of course, the bird species, too numerous to list, that have their breeding sites here in Oberfranken. We collected many specimens, which were presented at the end of the path and discussed in a big round table forum.

After this exhausting excursion into the countryside, it was decided to recharge all batteries during lunch. The finest delicacies were served by the Bayreuth farmers’ wives, and on top of that, there was a party service with pasta, schnitzels, vegetable lasagna and various tasty salads. While the adults sat and relaxed in the farm’s garden, the children were running riot in the adjacent playground and on its big climbing wall. Face painting was also very popular with the children and brought instant smiles—especially for the girls. The reward was a refreshing ice cream surprise.

Having enjoyed the home-baked cake, it was somewhat difficult for everyone to finish the tour through the museum, with all the local bat species. But the amazing rodents and the stories surrounding these numerous daredevils quickly brought us back into top shape. The crowning conclusion was the big treasure hunt through several stations—a great spectacle which left so many children wide-eyed in amazement. 

At this point, too, we would like to thank Tino Hartenstein for the planning and organization of this all around successful event.