Author:
Lyubov Tolstova
Short summary:
During Summer 2025 we organized a few memorable activities for children. One of them was a Treasure Hunt in Göttweig monastery with mythical characters played by our international volunteers.
It all started with the idea of developing an interactive outdoor activity for kids for the summer camp of Jugendschar Paudorf. A Treasure Hunt format seemed to be the best way to explore all the hidden parts of the area around the monastery with more detailed attention to nature.
We already have quite a long Big Friendly Giants trail which connects the monastery with the Giant Sequoia arboretum. The trees (Sequoiadendron giganteum) were planted by the monk Adalbert Dungel, who was the forester of the monastery from 1877 to 1886, and sowed the seeds in 1880.
Dungel also planted a few Giant Sequoias right next to the monastery, but lately these large trees started to dry out, as they need a substantial amount of water to thrive. A single tree is capable of absorbing 2000 to 3000 liters of water daily. In their natural habitat, the Californian mountain range Sierra Nevada, they would primarily get from the melting snow. Such a high water requirement in combination with climate change makes these trees very vulnerable to drought.
Being truly concerned, we created a story behind the Treasure Hunt to make it not only fun, but also an educational experience for the participating kids. We decided to form a legend that would revolve around these giant “Trees of Life”. They could only be saved by a magic potion brewed from different natural ingredients, which the participants would have to collect on the monastery grounds! We mapped several locations, created 7 wizards and witches as characters, and prepared 2 tasks for each location that participants would have to complete
The Storyline
«Long, long ago, atop the hill where the magnificent Göttweig Abbey now stands, the wind carried whispers of magic, and the stars above shimmered with ancient light. Brother Altman, the founder of the Abbey, was not just a wise monk, he was also the secret guardian of the two Trees of Life “Solrenna and Nymbrial”, ancients beings rooted deep beneath the hill. Their roots nourished the land and kept the world in harmony.
But one midsummer morning, the bells of Göttweig rang in distress.
The needles of Solrenna and Nymbrial had begun to wither. Their cones had lost their magical glow. The sky above them dimmed, and even the birds refused to sing. Brother Patrick, the new abbot, stood beside the sacred grove, his heart heavy, his mind full of worry. He clutched his wooden staff carved with symbols only the abbots could read and hit the ground three times so that the earth trembled and an eerie sound traveled in all directions.
The instructions Brother Altman had left in a manuscript kept by the abbots of Göttweig since centuries were clear:
The Tree Keepers, a circle of powerful, magical beings, have to be summoned and a potion has to be brewed. The ingredients for the potion have to be collected by local children with a pure heart – only then can the Tree Keepers heal Solrenna and Nymbrial and restore the harmony of the world».
Collecting the ingredients for a tree saving potion
With that said, our 2-hour adventure began: 1 Acacia leaf, 1 Honey Locust Leaf, 7 Yew needles, 12 Grapes, 3 seeds from a Sequoia tree cone, a few daisies, 2 springs of Lavender, 3 Blue spruce needles, 3 Melon seeds, 5 small-leaved Lime seeds and 3 Blood beech leaves had to be collected from 7 mythical wizards and witches for the tree saving potion.
Chuangzi – a Taoist shaman, Sachamama – the protector of the forest, Elandra Moss - the magic witch, Florence - the fairy, Albus Dumbledore – the wise wizard, Emrys the Immortal – an ancient Druid, Euterpe - the Muse of music and Krotos - the Satyr guided the children on their quest.
The children had to build Chinese trigram figures with the wood pieces at Chuangzi, match different animal species with the right category together with Sachamama, collect the golden cones in the Quidditch game and learn a spell in a foreign language with a support of Dumbledore, create different rhythm patterns for the music together with Euterpe and Krotos, play a memory game with insects and learn to make sound out of the Acacia leaf with the Emrys instructions, and dig out a secret potion recipe from a sandy pit with the help of Florence the Fairy!
Brewing the potion and celebrating the trees of life
We gathered around the campfire and mixed all the ingredients together in a big pot! Each team got a small vial with a potion in a different color, which they had to pour on the trees in a certain cardinal direction – otherwise the potion would show no effect. Thanks to our creativity and effort, we saved the Trees of Life, which continued to delight people with their strength and grandeur!
We celebrated it with a sweet treat that had been prepared for our little heroes and listened to music from Euterpe. It was a great pleasure organizing this activity for Jugendschar Paudorf, and we hope that the Treasure Hunt will stay with the camp for the years to come: https://ark.greensteps.me/library/solrenna-nymbrial-saving-the-trees-of-life
Further reading:
• https://www.greensteps.me/library/green-steps-mobile-campus.php
Interested to start a nature learning space in your town or school?
• https://ark.greensteps.me/page/create-community/
• https://ark.greensteps.me/page/commons-mentor/
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