Research for a comic book set in 19th century rural Germany is difficult? Not where I live it isn't.
Just outside Hamburg, a few kilometers south of the river Elbe, you can find yourself transported to Napoleonic times.
The Freilichtmuseum am Kiekeberg is a huge area where houses originally built in the 1800s and before have been collected from all over North Germany and rebuilt to form a more or less authentic village. Taking the kids there has been a standard weekend outing with us for a long time, so when I started work on Argstein, I knew where to look for inspiration and information.
If you ever happen to be close, make a point of going. It's worth every minute, not least for the splendid restaurant Stoof Mudders Kroog, where not only are served regional specialities like pig's head meat in jelly and other peasant favourites (organically farmed, don't you know!), but also their own brands of organic beer and coke.
Here are a few pictures of the place.
Panoramic view of hilly Kiekeberg.
A rich Bauer's impressive main house.
Bed in a cupboard. That's where the Bauer and his wife used to sleep.
The main stove in a Bauer's house. Note the ham and sausages hanging over the fireplace for smoking. This area is open to the cow stables. On the right, you can just see one of the peasant's bed cupboards. The door to the left leads to the Bauer family's quarters.
The cozy abode of the family elders.
The local bakery.
Preindustrial machinery at the blacksmith's.
The old orchard.
Taste in colours was not always subtle in them days. A blue merchant's house/pig sty.
A pig sticking out its organically farmed neck.
This is what I imagine the Förster's hut to look like.
The village well.
Atmospheric shot of Argstein in the winter.
Have an exclusive peek at sketches and work in progress here.
For starters, here's the first ever character study of Hasel from Forbidden Parts:
Plus a rather nice sketch, I think, of Gereon enjoying a relaxing pipe by the fireside:
A portrait of the Baron, Lord of the valley of Argstein:
And a character study of the Moosweiblein, my favourite of all the characters Josef borrowed from German folklore. Sadly, she dies pretty early on in "Law of the Forest", but I'm sure there are plenty of wicked twin sisters frolicking through the Argstein woodlands.
More anon.
