"In the furthest south-east corner of Heinz-Krey-Hof there are some garages, behind which there is a path. This Path officially connected my neighbourhood to some allotment gardens, but for me and my friends it was a magical portal that connected to Osbek, a creek running through a large portion of eastern Flensburg.

Since the path goes downhill very steeply, this was one of our favorite spots for sledding in the winter.

The woods around this path hold a lot of secrets and memories which I shall never share."

"This is the section of the Osbek which we called ours. It flows right to left on this map

Venturing upstream, it takes you past a few private properties, which arent fenced off to the creek. In the Summer we would sneak onto them and steal berries and fruit from the gardens.

A large section of the creek had been laid underground (dark blue), which to us was a tunnel to a dark world.
I only ventured the entire lenght of the tunnel once, the closest I've ever come to dungeon crawling. We went upstream and found a good bit of graffiti and stuff which was left behind accidentally during construction of the tunnel.

Downstream from the mouth of the tunnel was the prettiest section of the creek. There were fish in the water (which one time I captured and kept in a makeshift aquarium. When all but 2 fish died, I brought them back to the creek), leeches, frogs and more. This is where i learned what frog spawn on bare feet feels like."

"This used to be a huge sandlot, where employees of the Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt could park. We all just called it KBA (Ka-Beh-Ah).

Most of it was actually overgrown in the shape of a small forest, littered with ruins which we assumed were Bunkers from the war. We built tree houses and hide-outs in the bushes which we called caves. We whittled sword with which we fought and we made cigarettes from hollow reeds and grass.

Around 2010 the government began clearing the space, cutting down all trees for redevelopment. We launched a small resistance effort, throwing stones at and putting up small barricades in front of the machinery at night, hiding dozens of snails in the portapotties and more. At the time we were too scared to do anything more serious like puncture the tires, but it felt like something sacred was being stripped from us.

They ended up building offices for a local newspaper on what used to be the place of our childhood, which I never forgave."

"There used to be a beautiful hollow tree here, which was home to a hive of bees. The hive was accessible to the bees by a split down the trunk.
Year after year they would be here, without fail.

I will admit, as boys we were deeply cruel to these bees. We peed on the hive, we threw fireworks inside and tried blocking the exit with debris.

Not once did they sting me. I regret all of this now of course.

Shortly after the government leveled KBA, they also leveled the woods on this side of the street and cut down the bee tree. Now, this is the site of a nursing home or some other sort of assisted living.

I wonder if the hive was able to relocate."

"There was a fence with barbed wire here, right at the mouth of the tunnel. If you hopped the fence, it would reveal a beautiful secluded pond on the property of the KBA, with a bench and a stone sculpture.

The pond was home to salamanders, frogs and newts, and if its still there, I hope the creatures still call it home.

One time, after returning home from vacation, me and the boys went here to play and soon we noticed that people at the windows of the KBA were watching us.
Shortly after, the police arrived and chased us around the Osbek wooded area, cutting off our escape routes and finally catching us. They took down our information and revealed to me, that while I was absent, my friends had vandalized the stone sculpture at the pond.

That was one of the last times I hopped this particular fence."

"Back here, near the properties on the banks of the Osbek, one of my friends slipped while we were trying to catch a frog.
His clothes were brand new and when he stood up covered in mud, he was furious.

He killed the frog, while I stood by, too scared to do anything."

"At the entrance to the path, behind the garages, there stood a tree.
Perhaps it still stands.

I am still happily married to R and thank the tree for sharing this memory with me."

"There was an old gateway here, sometimes locked, sometimes open. Always tempting us. It led to the property of a family keeping sheep and pigeons.

Often times we dared eachother, to sneak as far onto the property as we could, before the "Bauer" as we called him, spotted us and would chase us off with his pitchfork.

I loved peering into the pigeon coop, heart pounding"

"A Mirabelle Plum Tree stands here, on the family property of an old classmate of mine, but its branches reach over and drop their loot on a playground.

As the fruit ferments and rots, the whole neighborhood smells of boozy fruit and attracts wasps. We would compete for who could kill the most. I earned many a sting.

The sweetest, best fruit was enjoyed after climbing to the very top of the tree and lounging in the branches"

"After I teased him and we got into a fight, Rasmus tossed my favorite wooden sword, which I had carved myself, onto a property where a huge dog roamed.

I never had a chance to retrieve it, though in my mind I still can feel the bark and the intricate carvings on the hilt."

One day we heard half a dozen sirens from over here. Turns out, a skydiver's parachute had failed to open and he got impaled on the young willow trees right here.

Obviously our parents didnt let any of us kids go watch, but we went looking the next day and found the broken branches he had landed in."

"A small turnaround area, in front of the security check drive-through for the KBA.

I learned a bit of skateboarding here and taught what little I knew to my little sister.

It's the only memory she has of us interacting as children."

"The first apartment in this neighborhood we moved into, in 2003. I believe we only stayed in this building 2-3 years or so.

At the foot of the building, at the outside entrance to the basement, there was a small storm drain. Each year, frogs would lay their eggs here and we'd spend summer days fishing out the young frogs, as soon as they could walk, and we would carry them over to the tall grass and thicket where they would be safe.

This is also the building where i first met Rene, my closest friend until I moved out"

"The second Apartment we lived in was here. My friends Tom, André and Pascal lived in the same building. Pascal was my sister's first boyfriend. He hit her and I was too much of a coward to beat him up for it.

On the far end of the building was a tree whose seeds smelled of bananas if you dried them for a few weeks.

I lived here when I fell in love for the first time."

"My close friend Finn lived here with his family and Dino, the immortal albino rabbit. They often had me over for dinner and sleepovers."

"Rene, Rasmus and Stefan lived here. I used to steal Yu-Gi-Oh cards from Stefan.

On the far end of this building, there was a tree that held our treehouse.
A few boards still hang in the branches."

"The older kids Kevin and Björn lived back here, in the furthest corner of the neighbourhood."