German arboriculture/sawmilling?

[Big J]

Thanks for that!

 

I suppose the biggest concern that I have is integrating into the bureaucratic German system. If is a qualifications based culture, and whilst my qualifications are few, I am reasonably experienced in self select thinning and more so in sawmilling. You mentioned in another thread that you had to take a German qualification too - how did you find that, and what did you have to do?

 

How do you find working with your German counterparts? Forestry is a much longer qualification over there than it is here. All I ever did was take my CS30-31 and then start cutting. I would regard myself as being a pretty reasonable cutter (particular attention to tidiness - must be the half German side of me) but I think that I would be outclassed by folk that have trained for years in a system that frankly does a much better job of managing it's forests than we do.

 

How did you find general social integration in terms of finding a house, setting up a bank account, driving licences/insurance and all that jazz. It's daft really, as I speak German fairly competently and have family there, but I do regard a move to Germany as a major thing. It's incredible how quickly you establish yourself in an area (Edinburgh for us) and the thought of the upheaval is terrifying.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Jonathan

[colemanjessenz]

i have only been here for just on four months, luckily i have my girlfriend for all that as she is german . The german people love bits of paper and like structure , where i am working now i did not have to do any papers regarding my work as my nz certs where analysed by an insurance company and they said it was fine to transfer straight over and get a german cert.

 

if you can speak german you are definatly at an advantage , insurance was very easy all you need to do is call a company and then go to the "Rathaus" which is like a council building to regester yourself and show them your british passport and then scan the bit of paper and send it to your insurance and it can be organised in less then a day .

 

 

banks ........ where do i begin , nothing is done over the counter it is all done by mail so it takes a week or two to get sorted so ask for all your internet banking etc on the first visit or it will take a life time for all to get completed.

 

working... you need to go to the "Rathaus" and ask for a special bit of paper (cant think of the name off the top of my head ) and it will not be a problem as im assuming you have a brit passport.

 

my drivers license transfers straight over from nz so i think that your brit one will too just need to go to a driving place to get that registerd also.

 

I have great workmates that i can socialise with and also my girlfriends groups of friends but i dont have a grasp on the language so I'm busy at night school trying to learn. if you want to do it and know where you will move to then you shouldnt have any issues finding something . arb is very specialised over here and is one of the very very jobs that i don't think should be hard to find . i think that if you have experience in arb work they will hire you but there are two types of tickets .... handsaw climbing and chainsaw climbing so your employer will want you to get your chainsaw climbing cert if your qualifications at present do not transfer over, this is due to insurances etc .

 

comming from nz to Germany i found that the health and safety side of things here is quite similarly structured to nz ( from what i gather so far ) but some companys may be different. hope it helps mate

 

the forestry side of things i cant really tell you much about sorry mate but if you want to do it theres always a way

Edited January 4, 2013 by colemanjessenz

[Big J]

Thanks for sharing that Jesse - seems like you've hit the ground running.

 

Just back from 5 days in the Hundsrueck/Eifel and it's resolved us to move. I'll post more and put up pictures too, but Germany is quite simply better than the UK in every measurable way (well apart from perhaps they ought to indicate more whilst driving!). There were roads we drove on where you didn't leave the forest for more than a couple hundred yards for 5-10 miles. Roads were perfect, everywhere. No traffic, food reasonably priced, beer and wine much cheaper, cleaner, warmer, drier, less wind, no neds/chavs, did I mention the endless forest?

[Big J]

Well, it was certainly a very illuminating visit. 4 days there, in the Hundsrueck/Eifel region.

 

I've not been to Germany since I've been involved in sawmilling and forestry. I've always known that the forest cover was extensive, but I didn't really expect to find places you could drive for miles and miles through without leaving the woods.

 

Almost all forest had evidence of very recent work. Very little seems to happen at any one time, with continuous cover being the name of the game. Much more planning seems to take place, with extensive and well constructed forestry tracks. Nice thing too, given that there is universal right of access to forest (31.7% by area of Germany is forest, versus less than 12% here).

 

All the villages are pretty. No nasty grey harled schemes, no depressing Barrett Homes developments. Well laid out villages, with most main roads bypassing them, rather than running through them.

 

Visited a large hardwood sawmill, which was very interesting. They have more timber than I've ever seen in my life, have a hugely smooth operation but seem very relaxed. The owner showed me around for about an hour. All industrial buildings were wood constructed, sawdust fired kilns, funicular railway linking different levels on the site. Particularly nice was that I didn't see any hi-vis, idiot proof warning signs etc - much more relaxed.

 

Roads were a joy - stark contrast to returning home and sitting in 40 minutes of traffic to do 10 miles back from the airport. No speed cameras, no pot holes, no Sunday drivers (comedy moment on an A-road getting overtaken by an elderly couple in an old Mercedes A Class......up a hill......with me doing the speed limit!).

 

Either way, it's certainly accelerated our plans a little, so if the worst case scenario befalls Scotland and somehow independence is achieved in 2016, we'll be out by then!

 

Some photos:

 

Talsperre Nonnweiler:

 

Sawmill tour:

 

Funicular railway leading to upper levels:

 

Mountains of kiln dried timber ready to go:

[Big J]

Cochem, on the River Mosel:

 

Strutting purposefully into the forest:

 

Pretty trees:

 

Well thinned larch with good access, with regenerating spruce and beech under:

 

Gemündener maar - one of quite a few volcanic crater lakes in the Eifel:

[broonie]

weel I wish you all the best... looks absolutely stunning...

 

is this the area ?

 

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Gem%C3%BCndener+maar&ie=UTF-8&ei=TcF9UczsPOGO0AWLkICADQ&ved=0CAsQ_AUoAg

Edited April 29, 2013 by broonie

[Big J]

That's it Broonie. The Maars are lovely and I can't wait to go back in summer for swimming. Water temperature is up to 22-24 celcius depending on weather, and the water is pretty much crystal clear.

 

A few other interesting bits - saw an advert for Stihl chainsaws on a shopping trolley, Bitburger (the local excellent Pilsner) is 35 pence a bottle, best quality forest in the Hundsrueck is still only around £4000 an acre (as little as one fifth of that for lower grade), diesel is cheaper, rental housing is about a third the price and there doesn't seem to be the wood pilfering theft issues we have here.

[MattyF]

Looks great... Go for it ! Did you have a price of woodland around thuringian Forrest to the east??

[Big J]

Looks great... Go for it ! Did you have a price of woodland around thuringian Forrest to the east??

 

I don't, but I should imagine that it is cheaper. The proximity of this area to Luxembourg means that the prices are a little higher. Hard to believe really, but that is what I am told.

[Stephen Blair]

All the best J, looks stunning! A friend of mine goes over for 4 weeks in the summer, he would move tomorrow!