andrea wolfensberger

The Worpsweder Trilogy is a small tribute to the Devil‘s Moor, which has shaped the landscape as deeply as the people of this region. Peat extraction is coming to an end and the last extraction areas are being watered and renatured. Most of the former moorland, however, remains an undiluted agricultural area. Today we know that moors are important CO2-binders. Organic plant materials cannot be broken down in acid moor water because bacteria are not viable in such an acid climate. Therefore, the CO2 bound in the plants does not escape into the at- mosphere. On the other hand, non-aqueous peat is normally decomposed by aeorobic bacteria.

Climate proxy is based on a rotated climate diagram. The height corresponds to the time, a layer of plywood (3mm) corresponds to 2‘000 years. The total height corresponds to approximately 400,000 years. The widths correspond to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. A clear regularity of increase and decrease can be seen. The up- permost layer, which shows the increase in the CO2 content since 1950, is conspicuous.

Sphagnum or peat moss is responsible for the acidi cation of the moor water and is therefore the master builder of the moors.

Torfhocke (peat squat) consists of the last mined peat sods of this area and was layered in the traditional way of construction, as in the past the sods were layered to dry.