Dahme, Germany (AP) – Axel Kramer knows exactly where to find Amber.
He walks the promenade of the village of Derm in German Baltic Sea Coastcheck the wind and waves, and look at various types of mussels and algae washed away, referring to the small bulges of the beach.
The 12 people who are enthusiastically following his every move, jumping into the waterline and pulling up. Sea grass and kelpand in fact, after a while, one of them wins and embraces a small piece of shining, honey-colored amber.
“Incredible. I was 57 years old and grew up in the Baltic Sea, so I’ve never found it before,” says Frank Phillip. “I’m really excited about it. Right now I’m digging deeper and hooking.”
People along the Baltic Sea have gathered amber for centuries
Kramer, a 66-year-old nature guide, has been collecting Ambers since he was six years old. At one point, he realized he had the talent to discover the coveted work, or decades of experience, and began gathering tours for locals and tourists.
People living along the Baltic Sea – from Denmark and Germany In Poland, The Baltic Statesand to the north Sweden – We’ve collected amber for thousands of years. They then made beautiful gems, used them in barter and placed them in the tomb.
Even today, Amber stores line the coastal towns of the Baltic Sea. tourist Take your necklace, earrings and rings home as souvenirs.
“Gold of the Sea” is not a stone
Contrary to what many believe, amber, also known as “sea gold,” is not a gem or gemstone, but a fossilized resin.
Some ambers are up to 400 million years old, while ambers in the Baltic Sea are about 45 million years old. It starts with forest in Finland He was taken to Sweden and the Baltic Sea. Ice Age. Because resins are sticky, you may find so-called inclusions of insects and plants within amber. I initially stuck to it when the resin fell off the tree.
“Previously, there were 120 commercial grade ambers, from black to practically white,” said Vollrath Wiese, an amber biologist and expert. “Bonnie White has a lot of bubbles inside and a beautiful, almost transparent amber honey colour.”
“The transparency of Amber depends on the number of microscopic (air) bubbles it actually contains,” Wiese said, as he showed some of the most valuable amber collections at Cismar’s natural museum, which he runs.
For many, the Amber Collection is more than its value
The value of the amber, known as Bernstein, in German, depends on its quality, and for regular pieces it runs from a few euros per gram to 1,000 euros ($1,170).
However, for Nature Guide’s Kramer, the real value of Amber cannot be measured with money.
“Getting Ambers together makes you happy,” Kramer said with a big smile. “Many people say collecting mbers is better than yoga. It’s pure therapy.”
He said everyone, from children to seniors, enjoys his Amber Collection tours incredibly, and often comes back again and again.
“I had a CEO who was raw on all fours on the beach and was happy when they found a little Amber,” Kramer said.
Is it really amber? Throw it into salt water, rub it with wool or let a black light shine on it
Once the beginner finds a piece, they come to Kramer and ask him to check it out. Find out if it’s a real mber to a regular stone, or if it’s a regular stone or plastic. To investigate, Kramer pulls out a small glass jar with a high concentration of salt water inside and drops the pieces inside. When it sinks, it is a stone, if it swims, it is amber.
In addition to water testing, wool fabrics also work. The dry umbar is electrostatically charged when it rubs and attracts scraps of paper.
In recent years, collectors have come up with another unique way to identify amber. They go out at night and illuminate the beach with flashlights with black lights. When amber is exposed, it glows bright yellow. In this way, collectors can find small pieces hidden between the stone and the wood.
Amber Collecting Tours are offered along the Baltic Sea in Germany
Many beach enthusiasts have collected on their own organized collection tours like the ones Kramer offers, but in recent years they have been born in almost every resort town in Germany’s Baltic Sea. Walking tours cost around 10 to 20 euros ($11.70 to $23.50) and in addition to amber hunts on the beach, they often include lectures on the folk customs surrounding Amber.
in middle agespeople attributed the magical power to Amber, and believed it protected them against witches and demons. Today, many parents in Germany are supposed to help grow teeth, so they put amber necklaces on their babies. And many jewellery stores in the Baltic Sea offer amber colours for dogs.
But more than anything, collecting amber seems fulfilling, says Marion Leprecht. The 54-year-old from Bokum City, in the western part of the city of Bokum, who works in the hospital management, has been on vacation in Dahm for over 40 years.
“I think it’s absolutely thrilling, exciting and very enjoyable,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything to do in the evening. I’m relaxed and late.”
