The Chair of Land Management woke up to the day that gave meaning to the spirit of friendship. This was June 26th 2009, when the staff and the MSc students visited Dr: Zuelsdorf at his home in Starnberg. Stretching from the wee hours of the day to the evening, the visit demonstrated how well, the host had planned to treat his guests to intellectual and dietary nutrition. It all begun with presentations that covered a wide range of issues. Before a long and notable tour of the village, the host ensured that guests had the energy to withstand the task ahead by treating them to a pleasant breakfast. First was the village center, marked with a tower (maibaum) which portrays the historical and cultural richness of the area. Important to the guests was exposure to the knowledge of the area’s cadastre and how it has evolved over the years to its present state. Then a visit to the area’s Catholic Church not only proved the spiritual orientation of the area, but also how true a Christian Dr. Zuelsdorf is, especially when he led his guests to a praise and worship song. There was a moment of a mind chilling discussion of individuals such as Oskar Maria Graf and King Ludwig II, whose good and bad life experiences in the past are memorable and have added weight to the area’s history of pride and grief.

“This was really strange” exclaimed one of the guests upon a revelation of the point at the lake where the body of late King Ludwig II was found on 13th June 1886. The significance of the visit was visibly clear through the un-ceasing efforts to capture every point in photographs for recollection later. A walk through the rich neighborhood involved a proof that indeed the place is gifted by nature as rain poured.

It wasn’t an interruption, but a reminder of the reason behind the scenic beauty the place boasts of, as we trudged to the host’s house, where he and his wife gave the Chair under the leadership of Prof. Magel the true meaning of the visit. The first of its kind with foods and drinks which defined a heavy lunch at the guests’ disposal in the middle of the gardens, the visit was not just a sign of friendship but love. The presentation of gifts to both Dr. Zuelsdorf and the wife by Prof. Magel and Jorge Espinoza respectively was a crystal signal of a deep relationship between the hosts and guests, certainly as a family.

The occasion was wrapped up with a social hour in which Dr. Zuelsdorf and guests including Prof. Magel sang, as he (the host) skillfully played his guitar. This was a show of diversity in unity as songs in different languages especially German, English and Arabic filled the air amidst the characteristic wild applause. The day depicted the true sense of happiness, a reflection of hospitality in the German (Bavarian) culture, a sign of love and oneness, which cannot be easily expressed in words.