Five years ago, Judith Rakers (47) moved to the country.
Instead of living in the metropolis of Hamburg, the “Tagesschau” spokeswoman now lives on the outskirts. In addition to cats, her roommates are chickens. But they were regularly decimated at first after the hawk discovered them.
“Once he comes, he always comes back,” says Judith Rakers to BILD am SONNTAG. “And he’s a very sneaky hunter.” He waits for hours for his prey and then strikes with lightning speed. “My rooster Giovanni died a heroic death in such an attack and sacrificed himself for his ladies.”
Green fingers: At Rakers something is planted or potted every day
Meanwhile, Rakers’ chickens can live with peace of mind. “The barn is now as secure as an art exhibition,” she says, laughing. And they don’t have to be afraid of the butcher either.
At first, the Hamburg native thought she would now be able to eat honest organic meat. “But when the first chicken jumped onto my lap and wanted to eat out of my hand, it was clear: I will never be able to eat my chickens, because for me they immediately turned from farm animals into pets. My chickens are family.”
Otherwise, she eats little meat and pays attention to regional and seasonal ingredients. Tomatoes either come from the garden or locally so they don’t have to fly around the world.
As far as nutrition is concerned, the presenter grew up uneducated, so to speak. “I’ve never been called that before,” she says, laughing. “But it’s true. I had no connection to these topics because I grew up with frozen food and ravioli cans.” Then came the longing for more nature.
“I wanted to turn my life around again in the second half. I knew that if I didn’t change my life, it would make me unhappy in the long run. So there was no alternative for me to make this change.”
Moving to the country also required courage. But she caught it and now lives in a former farm worker’s house without a connection to the public drinking water system and with an “adventurous power line”. There is always something to do with crafts. “Thank God I can, thanks to my single dad.”
Animals are also in the best of hands at Rakers
Alone in solitude, with the nearest bus stop half an hour’s walk away. Isn’t Judith Rakers scared? “No. But I’ve always known how to defend myself well. And I’m not an anxious person at all. If I hear noises, I look to see what’s going on instead of hiding under the covers.”
Pretty casual. “My garden relaxes me,” says Judith Rakers. “I just like working with my hands, digging in the ground. Quite different from what you know from the “Tagesschau”.
“I’ll tell you something. If my fingernails are painted dark red in the ‘Tagesschau’, that’s always a sign for me that I was digging in the garden a short time before – and my fingers weren’t cleaned properly or quickly enough.”
This article comes from BILD am SONNTAG. The ePaper of the entire issue is available here.
