Ich Hatte Eine Farm In Afrika

„Ich hatte ein Farm in Afrika… — "I had a Farm in Africa..." Visit to the Karen Blixen Museum, Nairobi

Nairobi, Kenya. „Ich hatte eine Farm in Afrika, am Fuße der Ngong Berge." So beginnt einer der schönsten Afrika Filme, die je produziert wurden. Grundlage für den Picture show „Jenseits von Afrika" ist der Roman „Die afrikanische Farm", den Karen Blixen 1937 in Dänemark schrieb. Das Farmhaus, wo Karen Blixen 17 Jahre lang lebte und wo Teile des Films gedreht wurden, ist heute ein Museum. Beim Besuch fühlt human being sich in eine andere Zeit versetzt und könnte fast meinen, man ist plötzlich selber in Mitten dieses fantastischen Films. Ein absolutes "Muss" für alle Fans. Auf einer Führung durch das Museum erfahrt ihr viel Interessantes über das Leben von Karen Blixen auf der Kaffeefarm am Rande der Ngong Berge.

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Who was Karen Blixen?

Karen Blixen was born in 1885 and grew up in Rungsted on the declension of Kingdom of denmark. At 29, she married her Swedish half-cousin, Baron Bror von Blixen-Finecke. They both had a great love of hazard in mutual. They soon left Kingdom of denmark to get-go a new life in Kenya. The couple bought the Mbogani farmhouse near the Ngong Mountains in 1917. This became the middle of their 4500 hectare farm with the approximately 600 hectare java plantation. Karen ran the farm about alone, while her spouse preferred to bask large game hunting. More than thousand people worked for her, there was medical care and even a schoolhouse.

But the coffee subcontract was not doing very well. It was located at nearly ii,000 meters, too high for java cultivation, and the soil was also too acidic. Drought, plagues of locusts, floods, epidemics and a burn repeatedly presented Karen Blixen with new challenges. The wedlock did not become well either, and they finally divorced in 1925.

Karen continued to run the financially struggling subcontract on her own. Finally, Karen found new happiness in her relationship with the Englishman Denys Finch Hatton. But the happiness was curt-lived: in 1931 Denys crashed his plane in Tsavo Due west National Park and died. In the aforementioned twelvemonth, Karen finally had to sell her java farm at a forced sale. She then left Kenya and returned to the family estate in Rungsted. There she devoted herself to writing and published several major works. In 1937, she finally published her book "The African Farm." In 1962, Karen Blixen died in Denmark at the historic period of 77. More than 20 years afterward, in 1985, her novel was made into a film starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer. The motion picture "Out of Africa" won several Oscars and made the Danish author world famous.

Karen Blixen'south pseudonym on the German book market is usually Tania Blixen. Her English-language books, on the other paw, mostly appeared under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen.

The Karen Blixen Museum

Im Jahr 1964 kaufte die dänische Regierung das Farmhaus, in dem Karen Blixen von 1917 bis 1931 lebte, und schenkte es Kenia zur Feier der Unabhängigkeit von Großbritannien. Das Anwesen wurde zunächst als Hauswirtschaftsschule genutzt. 1985 begannen hier die Dreharbeiten für "Jenseits von Afrika". Anschließend haben die Nationalmuseen von Kenia das Grundstück erworben, um hier ein Museum zu eröffnen.

With the help of a donation from the moving-picture show production company Universal Films, the house was renovated and furnished in the style of the time. For this purpose, it was fifty-fifty possible to buy dorsum many pieces of furniture that Karen Blixen had sold before she left Africa. In addition to furniture, furnishings and hunting trophies, old photos and books are on display. Furthermore, the bronze bust of Karen Blixen, fabricated by the artist Harald Isenstein, can be admired. Today, the firm offers a unique insight into the everyday life of the java farmer.

The museum consists of the one-time Mbogani principal house, a dissever kitchen building, a java drying area and a large park-like garden. Betwixt tall eucalyptus trees and palms, erstwhile carts and individual farm implements from long ago are on display. The flat bungalow with its verandas, however, is smaller than I expected. It was built in 1912 according to plans by Swedish architect Ake Sjogren. At that fourth dimension, the capital Nairobi was yet well-nigh x kilometers away. Today, the city's suburbs take grown upward effectually the one-time farm. Now, mainly ministers and government officials live in the upscale suburb of Karen.

From the holding you have a good view of the peaks of the Ngong Mountains, where Karen Blixen had her lover Dennis Finch Hatton buried in 1931.

The museum is open daily from 9:30 to 18:00.
Guided tours are offered continuously.
Unfortunately, photography is non allowed inside the museum.

Tip: Later the Karen Blixen Museum, visit the Giraffe Centre Nairobi.It is likewise located in the suburb of Karen and is known for the conservation convenance of the endangered Rothschild giraffes.

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