In painstaking manual work, fruit-growing professor Werner Denden creates his masterpiece: a mix of apples and pears.

No one drives here by accident. A good half hour’s drive from Cuxhaven, the journey ends at a remote farm. A large, blond dog greets visitors, wagging its tail. A pleasant breeze blows from the Elbe into the small town of Balje, on the horizon wind turbines turn their circles in the sky hung with large clouds.